Synoptic climatology of atlantic coast North‐Easters

Abstract A classification of extratropical storms in the north‐western Atlantic Ocean is developed based upon the storm's origin, track, and intensification. All storms producing at least 1.6‐m deep‐water waves at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina from 1943 to 1984 are included. Eight distinct stor...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International Journal of Climatology
Main Authors: Davis, Robert E., Demme, Gregory, Dolan, Robert
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1993
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/joc.3370130204
https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fjoc.3370130204
https://rmets.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/joc.3370130204
Description
Summary:Abstract A classification of extratropical storms in the north‐western Atlantic Ocean is developed based upon the storm's origin, track, and intensification. All storms producing at least 1.6‐m deep‐water waves at Cape Hatteras, North Carolina from 1943 to 1984 are included. Eight distinct storm types are identified, and their seasonality, interannual variation, and relationship to a previously devised storm‐intensity scale are discussed. The most dangerous storms are cyclones which originate either over Florida or north of Cuba from October through to April, travel northward, and are blocked by a stagnating anticyclone over New England or the North Atlantic. Coastal storm frequencies declined from the mid‐1960s through to the mid‐1970s and increased through to 1984, but the frequency of potentially damaging storms has increased since 1965.