WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — WPTV is asking questions to a forecaster who says he knows where the next hurricane will strike in Florida. It's information that everyone, including the insurance industry, wants to know.
This kind of hurricane forecasting isn't free like a lot of others. It comes with a price.
WATCH BELOW: Can this technology predict where next hurricane will hit?
"I expect one hurricane (making) landfall in Florida," long-range forecaster David Dilley said.
Dilley, who has worked with the National Weather Service and the Air Force, is the CEO of Global Weather Oscillations, which looks at global cycles to predict where hurricanes will hit.
"I track the historical hurricane landfalls on these cycles from historical times up to present and or up to last year, so I look to see so that zone is going into the cycle where it's going to have a landfall," Dilley said.
His predictions cover 13 separate zones for landfalls, with five located in Florida. Each zone prediction costs $350.
Citizens Insurance is advertised as a client, but WPTV is told they don't use it to set rates.
Dilley's forecast is predicting one hurricane and a couple of tropical storms to make landfall in Florida this hurricane season.
"I have three or four forecast zones for Florida," Dilley said.
"But you're not able to tell me the forecast for those zones right now?" WPTV reporter Matt Sczesny asked.
"No, because I have clients that have purchased the forecast," Dilley said.
Dilley admittedly doesn’t consider climate change in his forecasting.
It's something that Bob Bunting at the Climate Adaptation Center (CAC) uses when predicting 10 hurricanes this season.
"The last two years, I'm going to blow our horn a little here," Bunting said. "The CAC has issued the most accurate seasonal hurricane forecast in the world for two years running."
We're told that insurance companies use a lot of this forecasting to figure out the coming hurricane season and how to buy reinsurance.
Matt Sczesny is determined every day to help you find solutions in Florida's coverage collapse. If you have a question or comment on homeowners insurance, you can reach out to him any time.
