Storm Forensics

About Storm Forensics

Storm Forensics provides professional and dependable expert weather consulting services to a variety of industries and individuals impacted by weather and climate. Storm Forensics consulting services include written reports, litigation support, forensic weather reconstruction, certified weather records, and expert testimony for clients such as: attorneys and insurance companies; financial, real estate, and risk management firms; and any government and business entities impacted by the atmosphere.

Storm Forensics was founded by Walker Ashley (Ph.D., CCM), a Distinguished Teaching and Presidential Research, Scholarship, and Artistry Professor in the Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment at Northern Illinois University. Dr. Ashley's research focuses on the meteorology, climatology, and hazards of severe storms. He has presented and written numerous publications on severe weather and the hazards associated with extreme weather events. His publications have appeared in a number of top scientific journals, including the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Nature Climate Change, Climatic Change, Weather and Forecasting, Monthly Weather Review, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, International Journal of Climatology, Meteorological Applications, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, among others. Dr. Ashley serves as an editor for the American Meteorological Society's Weather and Forecasting and Weather, Climate, and Society journals. Storm Forensics is based in the Chicagoland region with nationwide support available.

AMS Certified Consulting Meteorologist

Dr. Ashley holds the highly respected Certified Consulting Meteorologist (CCM) designation from the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the premier professional organization for those in the atmospheric sciences. The AMS's CCM program ensures that CCMs have been tested and found to meet or exceed high standards of technical competence, character, and experience.

Expertise

Dr. Ashley has nearly thirty years of experience with collecting, examining, and extracting information on past weather events from historical records.  He is an expert at "mining" atmospheric data and has coupled this talent with his expertise in meteorological and climatological analysis. His experience and wealth of knowledge in the atmospheric sciences can assist cases involving topics such as: wind, flood, hail, tornado, and hurricane damage; lightning strike verification; visibility and fog; historical rain and snowfall; personal injury accidents such as slip and falls; motor vehicle crashes; criminal cases; work stoppage/delays; weather research and development; weather training and education; etc. Dr. Ashley's research and consulting emphasizes work in severe storms, atmospheric hazards and societal interactions, synoptic and mesoscale meteorology, applied meteorology/climatology, and hydroclimatology.  However, other applications of meteorological expertise are also available.

Past Storm Forensics clients include a variety of individuals, businesses, and government agencies − from litigation/personal injury law firms and international commercial real estate service companies, to FEMA subcontractors.

Background

Dr. Ashley received an M.S. from the University of Nebraska, and a B.S. and Ph.D. from the University of Georgia.  He has completed all the necessary coursework to meet the federal civil service requirements and American Meteorological Society's recommended curriculum for employment as a meteorologist.  Dr. Ashley is a member of the American Meteorological Society, National Weather Association, American Geophysical Union, and Association of American Geographers. He resides in Sycamore, IL, where he actively researches severe storms and teaches courses on meteorology and hazards at Northern Illinois University.

Contact Storm Forensics

If you wish to contact Storm Forensics regarding possible weather consulting services, please email Dr. Ashley and he will be happy to provide a fee schedule and detailed explanation of the services available. You can contact him at: or at .