Observed storm data contained outliers contradicting the assumed normal distribution

Evidence

There may be reason to doubt this extrapolation technique. Looking at Zone A, which included Florida and areas east of New Orleans, one observes that, in addition to the much sharper slope of the pressure data, at least one recorded storm lies far outside the normal distribution trend (fi g. 7, lowerlefthand corner). — Douglas A. Kysar, Regulating from Nowhere, 209

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A finite sample’s variance cannot distinguish a fat-tailed from an infinite-variance distribution — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera: How Financial…, 499; Under a Gaussian distribution extreme tail events become effectively impossible — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 106; Banks blamed the 2008 crash on impossible statistical outlier events — Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous…, 103

Broader Connections

• Banks blamed the 2008 crash on impossible statistical outlier events #exemplifies (0.80) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 103
• A finite sample’s variance cannot distinguish a fat-tailed from an infinite-variance distribution #complicates (0.75) — Donald MacKenzie, An Engine, Not a Camera, 499
• Under a Gaussian distribution extreme tail events become effectively impossible #expands (0.72) — Mark Blyth, Austerity, 106