Hurricanes make the headlines—yet according to PCS data, hurricanes actually accounted for less than a quarter of all catastrophe losses in the United States in the five years from 2006 to 2010. Instead, routine but violent storms that don't usually make the national news—severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hail, as well as snow and ice storms in winter—accounted for 75% of catastrophe losses in that five-year period.

So what does this recent past mean for the future impact of weather-related catastrophe? You and your business should be prepared for an increasingly rough ride, said meteorologist Jeff Masters, Ph.D., cofounder and director of meteorology at The Weather Underground. Dr. Masters reviewed historical weather events and offered his predictions of weather-related disaster for the next 30 years as the lead presenter during the July 10 PropertyCasualty360 webinar, “The Year-Round CAT Season.”

You should be concerned about severe weather regardless of your business location, as Dr. Masters' first data slide underscored. Already in 2012, weather extremes have struck nearly 45 percent of the contiguous U.S. states, setting a new U.S. record for the broad distribution of beyond-the-norm weather events. One potential culprit in changing weather patterns, Dr. Masters said: summertime Arctic Sea ice loss, which now encompasses an area comparable in size to the eastern half of the U.S. He then listed a dozen U.S. weather disasters since 1980 that cost in excess of $15 billion each—with 2005's Katrina ranking number one at $146 billion in damage (in 2012 dollars), and last year's Hurricane Irene ranked 12th with $15.8 billion in damage to New York and New England.