When Weather is a Factor

In many slip and fall cases, car and motorcycle crashes and boating accidents, weather is a factor.  At ABRAMS LANDAU, Ltd., we often need to determine the weather conditions at, and just prior to, the time of the accident.  For example, in slip and fall cases, if it is still snowing, raining or hailing, it is a lot harder to prove the Defendant was negligent than if the precipitation had stopped for a long enough period of time for the property owner to have shoveled, salted and/or sanded.  While the best source of information may be from the eyewitnesses we interview, they are often not familiar with the pre-accident conditions relevant to the claim.  We typically get historical meteorological information from  the NOAA NCDC in Asheville, from the local newspaper archives or from a commercial service such as Accuweather.  The National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is the world’s largest active archive of weather data.  In some cases, we may need to know the latitude of the accident location to determine when the sun rose.  For example, if the sun rose at 6:40 in Washington, D.C. that day, it rose later at points further south and earlier at points further north.   It may be relevant to the crash case if the traffic statute require headlights only between sunset and sunrise.  Local airports are also a good source for visibility info.  Information on visibility due to fog may be available from local commercial and private airports.  Wunderground has historical weather information by location and sunrise/sunset times. A hunting pamphlet for the state may list the sunrise and sunset times for the state.  There are many sources from which we can elucidate weather information relevant to our clients’ cases where there are no reliable “eyewitnesses.”