http://venturebeat.com/2013/05/10/big-data-can-predict-weather-up-to-40-days-into-the-future

EarthRisk Technologies has developed a new model for predicting extreme weather events. The model identifies weather patterns based on over 82 billion calculations and 60 years of data. It then compares those patterns to current conditions and uses predictive analytics to predict the weather up to 40 days in advance.

“Utilities corporations, energy traders, and energy producers are majorly impacted by big temperature changes and spend hundreds of millions of dollars trying to predict them,” Plavan said. “If they know there will be an extreme cold event a month from now, they can use that data to make an actionable decision, and these guys will do anything to gain a small edge.”

[Mo-Data] But what about insurance - if extreme events can be accurately forecast with enough advance notice, would an insurance company be able to notify its customers as to increased risks - and perhaps provide them with additional precautions that would decrease the claims amount. For example, flood-damage could be mitigated putting into action some of the flood preparation advice (e.g. http://www.nationwide.com/floods.jsp)