Super Storms, Mathematical Modeling, and Hurricane Hunting with Dr. Jeff Masters

With storms named Gamma and Delta making their way to US shores – we really couldn’t have timed this release better from a hurricane-content-meets-alts-investment podcast; it’s the: perfect storm (buh-dum-ch). Today’s guest is creator of Weather Underground and the Cat 6 blog, a person who has flown through an actual hurricane, and a whiz at modeling weather data in a way that us non-meteorologists can understand – Dr. Jeff Masters. In today’s podcast we’re talking with Jeff about hedging commodities based on storms, water futures contracts, the Cat 6 blog, historical context of extreme weather events, the transformation of weather modeling, heat output dissipating from WFH, fat tails based on 1-in-100-year events, economic fragility around climate change, hurricane Hugo, weather data inputs that matter, starting weather underground, Jeff’s upcoming book Eye of the Superstorm, hedge fund world catastrophe bonds, Jeff’s most dangerous storm experience, and the impact of COVID on weather modeling.

Follow along with Jeff and subscribe to his content at Yale Climate Connections.

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Disclaimer: This podcast is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal, business, or tax advice. All opinions expressed by podcast participants are solely their own opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of RCM Alternatives, their affiliates, or companies featured. Due to industry regulations, participants on this podcast are instructed not to make specific trade recommendations, nor reference past or potential profits. And listeners are reminded that managed futures, commodity trading, and other alternative investments are complex and carry a risk of substantial losses. As such, they are not suitable for all investors. For more information, visit www.rcmalternatives.com/disclaimer

Chapters:

00:00-01:29 = Intro

01:30-20:35 = Background, “The Final Flight”, & Weather Underground

20:36-32:19 = Building Weather Models

32:20-57:35 = Storm Financial Impacts, Catastrophic Bonds & Fat Tails ( It’s a complex system)

57:36-1:04:10 = Water Shortages & What We Need to Do

1:04:11-1:14:02 = Favorites