Routine Weather Events can Be Costly As temperatures go down
heating bills tend to go up. And now one Colorado research
facility has put a number on just how much strain changes in the
weather put on the economy. Researchers at the National Center
for Atmospheric Research in Boulder used data from the last 70
years to evaluate the “weather sensitivity” of the nation’s
economy. They say the costs of common weather occurrences, like
rainy days or cooler than average temperatures, adds up to
nearly $500 billion annually. Jeffery Lazo is an NCAR economist.
He says Colorado’s economy is one of the more sensitive where
states are concerned. “We have some industries that are weather
sensitive such as agriculture, the tourism industry and we do
have a lot of variability across the state from the western
slope and the Front Range.” Lazo says they are planning to
refine their national estimate. Right now it doesn’t include the
costs of severe weather events, like this year’s devastating
tornados in the south or recent