Skew Surge and Storm Tides of Tropical Cyclones in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays for 1980–2019
Coastal flooding poses the greatest threat to human life and is often the most common source of damage from coastal storms. From 1980 to 2020, the top 6, and 17 of the top 25, costliest natural disasters in the U.S. were caused by coastal storms, most of these tropical systems. The Delaware and Ches...
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2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.610062 https://doaj.org/article/10c91766f1a24dc19ca8bf1edba3a17d |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:10c91766f1a24dc19ca8bf1edba3a17d 2023-05-15T17:36:55+02:00 Skew Surge and Storm Tides of Tropical Cyclones in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays for 1980–2019 John A. Callahan Daniel J. Leathers Christina L. Callahan 2021-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.610062 https://doaj.org/article/10c91766f1a24dc19ca8bf1edba3a17d EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2021.610062/full https://doaj.org/toc/2624-9553 2624-9553 doi:10.3389/fclim.2021.610062 https://doaj.org/article/10c91766f1a24dc19ca8bf1edba3a17d Frontiers in Climate, Vol 3 (2021) tropical cyclone hurricane Mid-Atlantic storm surge coastal flooding tidal analysis Environmental sciences GE1-350 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.610062 2022-12-31T05:37:37Z Coastal flooding poses the greatest threat to human life and is often the most common source of damage from coastal storms. From 1980 to 2020, the top 6, and 17 of the top 25, costliest natural disasters in the U.S. were caused by coastal storms, most of these tropical systems. The Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, two of the largest and most densely populated estuaries in the U.S. located in the Mid-Atlantic coastal region, have been significantly impacted by strong tropical cyclones in recent decades, notably Hurricanes Isabel (2003), Irene (2011), and Sandy (2012). Current scenarios of future climate project an increase in major hurricanes and the continued rise of sea levels, amplifying coastal flooding threat. We look at all North Atlantic tropical cyclones (TC) in the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) database that came within 750 km of the Delmarva Peninsula from 1980 to 2019. For each TC, skew surge and storm tide are computed at 12 NOAA tide gauges throughout the two bays. Spatial variability of the detrended and normalized skew surge is investigated through cross-correlations, regional storm rankings, and comparison to storm tracks. We find Hurricanes Sandy (2012) and Isabel (2003) had the largest surge impact on the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay, respectively. Surge response to TCs in upper and lower bay regions are more similar across bays than to the opposing region in their own bay. TCs that impacted lower bay more than upper bay regions tended to stay offshore east of Delmarva, whereas TCs that impacted upper bay regions tended to stay to the west of Delmarva. Although tropical cyclones are multi-hazard weather events, there continues to be a need to improve storm surge forecasting and implement strategies to minimize the damage of coastal flooding. Results from this analysis can provide insight on the potential regional impacts of coastal flooding from tropical cyclones in the Mid-Atlantic. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Lower Bay ENVELOPE(-97.817,-97.817,58.821,58.821) Frontiers in Climate 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
tropical cyclone hurricane Mid-Atlantic storm surge coastal flooding tidal analysis Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
spellingShingle |
tropical cyclone hurricane Mid-Atlantic storm surge coastal flooding tidal analysis Environmental sciences GE1-350 John A. Callahan Daniel J. Leathers Christina L. Callahan Skew Surge and Storm Tides of Tropical Cyclones in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays for 1980–2019 |
topic_facet |
tropical cyclone hurricane Mid-Atlantic storm surge coastal flooding tidal analysis Environmental sciences GE1-350 |
description |
Coastal flooding poses the greatest threat to human life and is often the most common source of damage from coastal storms. From 1980 to 2020, the top 6, and 17 of the top 25, costliest natural disasters in the U.S. were caused by coastal storms, most of these tropical systems. The Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, two of the largest and most densely populated estuaries in the U.S. located in the Mid-Atlantic coastal region, have been significantly impacted by strong tropical cyclones in recent decades, notably Hurricanes Isabel (2003), Irene (2011), and Sandy (2012). Current scenarios of future climate project an increase in major hurricanes and the continued rise of sea levels, amplifying coastal flooding threat. We look at all North Atlantic tropical cyclones (TC) in the International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS) database that came within 750 km of the Delmarva Peninsula from 1980 to 2019. For each TC, skew surge and storm tide are computed at 12 NOAA tide gauges throughout the two bays. Spatial variability of the detrended and normalized skew surge is investigated through cross-correlations, regional storm rankings, and comparison to storm tracks. We find Hurricanes Sandy (2012) and Isabel (2003) had the largest surge impact on the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay, respectively. Surge response to TCs in upper and lower bay regions are more similar across bays than to the opposing region in their own bay. TCs that impacted lower bay more than upper bay regions tended to stay offshore east of Delmarva, whereas TCs that impacted upper bay regions tended to stay to the west of Delmarva. Although tropical cyclones are multi-hazard weather events, there continues to be a need to improve storm surge forecasting and implement strategies to minimize the damage of coastal flooding. Results from this analysis can provide insight on the potential regional impacts of coastal flooding from tropical cyclones in the Mid-Atlantic. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
John A. Callahan Daniel J. Leathers Christina L. Callahan |
author_facet |
John A. Callahan Daniel J. Leathers Christina L. Callahan |
author_sort |
John A. Callahan |
title |
Skew Surge and Storm Tides of Tropical Cyclones in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays for 1980–2019 |
title_short |
Skew Surge and Storm Tides of Tropical Cyclones in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays for 1980–2019 |
title_full |
Skew Surge and Storm Tides of Tropical Cyclones in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays for 1980–2019 |
title_fullStr |
Skew Surge and Storm Tides of Tropical Cyclones in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays for 1980–2019 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Skew Surge and Storm Tides of Tropical Cyclones in the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays for 1980–2019 |
title_sort |
skew surge and storm tides of tropical cyclones in the delaware and chesapeake bays for 1980–2019 |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.610062 https://doaj.org/article/10c91766f1a24dc19ca8bf1edba3a17d |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-97.817,-97.817,58.821,58.821) |
geographic |
Lower Bay |
geographic_facet |
Lower Bay |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Frontiers in Climate, Vol 3 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fclim.2021.610062/full https://doaj.org/toc/2624-9553 2624-9553 doi:10.3389/fclim.2021.610062 https://doaj.org/article/10c91766f1a24dc19ca8bf1edba3a17d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.610062 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Climate |
container_volume |
3 |
_version_ |
1766136559171534848 |