The world may be about to shift into a La Niña weather pattern, a development that would increase the risk of storms in the Atlantic as the height of hurricane season approaches there.
Forecasters at the US Climate Prediction Center have issued a La Niña watch, meaning that the surface of the Pacific Ocean is poised to cool. The weather pattern tends to reduce sudden changes in wind speed and direction in the Atlantic, allowing more storms to take shape.
Related: CSU, NOAA Maintain Forecasts for Above-Average Hurricane Season
The agency said there is a 53% chance the weather-changing phenomenon will form sometime in September, October and November, the last three months of the hurricane season. A month ago, the odds were 47% for the same period.
Forecasters expect a weak La Niña could form in the Northern Hemisphere’s fall and early winter, with sea surface temperatures in a key part of the Pacific falling at least 0.5C (0.9F) below normal. In addition to its storm-boosting effects, La Niña can bring more drought to Southern California and crop-growing areas of Brazil and Argentina, as well as heavier rainfall to mining regions of Indonesia and northern Australia.
Despite allegations of fraud and padding of premiums, neither a Miami-based cargo insurance broker nor a Lloyd’s coverholder can be asked to pay punitive damages in a breach-of-contract dispute, a Florida appeals court decided last week.
“A plaintiff … may not recover damages for fraud that duplicate damages awarded for breach of contract,” Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeals wrote in overturning part of a Miami-Dade Circuit Court’s ruling, citing Florida statutes and previous court decisions.
It’s the second time in a month that an appeals court has underscored the limited path that insurers must stick to in seeking recovery of funds paid due to misrepresentation. Claims of unjust enrichment are barred, as well as punitive damages, the courts have now emphasized. Read more here about the federal appellate court decision published in July.
In the Miami case last week, Anova Marine Insurance Services and Chaucer Syndicates Ltd. had sued Ramon International Insurance Brokers and its president, Iris Arden. Anova, with offices in Miami, and Chaucer, a London-based Lloyd’s syndicate insurer, argued that Ramon and Arden had provided insurance coverage to a yacht service beyond what was explicitly allowed by the contract with Anova.
“Ramon repeatedly declared shipments and accepted commodities outside of the Chaucer House Policy terms, despite being notified that such shipments were outside of coverage,” Anova’s lawsuit complaint in Miami-Dade County contends.