How AccuWeather's Hurricane Forecast Data Helps Energy Companies Pre-Position Resources and Protect Assets
The value of hurricane forecasting for energy companies extends beyond knowing whether a storm may make landfall.
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AccuWeather’s Bernie Rayno discusses Hurricane Rachel in the eastern Pacific and another storm that could impact Mexico late next week, with tropical moisture potentially reaching the U.S. next weekend.
Executive Summary
Hurricanes can threaten power generation, transmission systems, substations, field crews, fuel supplies, and other critical energy infrastructure long before landfall. AccuWeather provides energy and utility companies with location-specific weather intelligence designed to support earlier operational decisions, including crew staging, outage preparation, infrastructure protection, and restoration planning. AccuWeather’s hurricane landfall intensity forecasts during the 2024 season were 37.8% more accurate on average, helping utilities anticipate potential grid impacts and prepare resources earlier.
Key Takeaways
– Advanced hurricane forecast data can help energy companies determine where and when to pre-position crews, equipment, backup power, and other resources.
– Location-specific forecasts can identify risks from damaging winds, flooding rain, storm surge, and other hurricane hazards at individual facilities and assets.
– AccuWeather's Hurricane Warning Service™ provides increasingly frequent updates as a storm approaches, with forecasts and warnings tailored to specific locations.
– The AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Hurricanes considers wind, flooding rain, storm surge, and potential economic impacts, providing additional context beyond wind speed alone.
– Integrating weather data into grid management and operational systems can help utilities turn hurricane forecasts into actionable decisions before, during, and after a storm.
>>Want to learn more about how AccuWeather's Hurricane Warning Service™ can help your business or community better prepare for tropical threats? Contact one of our experts today. >>
Bob Givehchi, right, and his son Daniel, 8, Toronto residents visiting Miami for the first time, walk past debris and palm trees blowing in gusty winds, at Matheson Hammock Park in Coral Gables, Fla., Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
How Can Hurricane Forecast Data Help Energy Companies Pre-Position Resources?
The value of hurricane forecasting for energy companies extends beyond knowing whether a storm may make landfall. Utilities need to understand when hazardous conditions could arrive, which assets could be exposed, and how severe the impacts could become. AccuWeather's energy and utility solutions provide forecasts, warnings, predictive analytics, and asset-specific information that can help operators mobilize repair crews, allocate backup power, secure vulnerable infrastructure, and prepare for outages. AccuWeather also makes weather data available through APIs and data feeds that can connect with grid management and control-center systems, helping organizations incorporate weather intelligence into established operational workflows.
How Does Location-Specific Hurricane Intelligence Help Protect Energy Assets?
A hurricane can create substantially different risks across an energy company's service territory. AccuWeather's Hurricane Warning Service™ provides forecasts and warnings tailored to specific locations and includes information about threats such as storm surge, flooding rain, damaging winds, and tornado development. For energy operators, this level of detail can help identify which substations, generation facilities, transmission corridors, service areas, and other assets may require attention first. Earlier visibility can support decisions about securing facilities, adjusting staffing, staging equipment outside the highest-risk areas, and positioning restoration resources closer to locations where they may be needed.
AccuWeather’s forecasts also alert the companies when the storm threat will move out so that they can plan how best to begin recovery work.
Why Does Understanding Hurricane Impact Matter for Energy Operations?
Wind speed alone does not describe every threat a hurricane can pose to energy infrastructure. The AccuWeather RealImpact Scale for Hurricanes™ incorporates factors including flooding rain, high winds, storm surge, and economic impacts to provide a broader view of potential storm consequences. That additional context can be important for energy companies because flooding, storm surge, and prolonged rainfall can affect substations, access roads, generation facilities, fuel logistics, and restoration operations even when wind intensity receives most of the attention.
Turning Hurricane Forecast Data Into Operational Readiness
For energy and utility companies, the goal of hurricane forecasting is actionable lead time. More precise information about storm track, intensity, timing, and location-specific impacts can give decision-makers additional time to protect critical assets, prepare employees, coordinate contractors, stage crews and equipment, and plan restoration efforts.
By combining hurricane warnings, impact-based risk information, predictive analytics, and data integration, energy organizations can build a more informed storm-readiness strategy focused on maintaining service reliability and accelerating recovery when tropical systems threaten critical infrastructure.
The Value of AccuWeather’s Hurricane Warning Service™
Do not let your business go through another hurricane season without the added protection that AccuWeather’s proven Superior Accuracy™ can provide.
AccuWeather's Hurricane Warning Service™ is a tool that provides businesses with critical information before a hurricane makes landfall. AccuWeather gives businesses the most accurate forecasts, backed by proven Superior Accuracy™ earlier than any other source, allowing businesses to make informed decisions and activate their recovery plans well in advance.
AccuWeather For Business can help companies and communities better prepare for hurricanes and keep their employees and customers safer.
Hurricanes are not just a problem along the coast, they can also impact businesses several hundred miles inland. Do not wait for an imminent hurricane or tropical storm to prepare your business for one. The message is clear: Start planning now.
An example of AccuWeather’s proven Superior Accuracy™ , AccuWeather’s hurricane track forecasts are 3% more accurate than the National Hurricane Center and 13% more accurate in forecasting the intensity of hurricane winds along the path.
