Synoptic climatology of nuisance flooding along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, USA
- PDF / 4,697,195 Bytes
- 17 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 26 Downloads / 170 Views
Synoptic climatology of nuisance flooding along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, USA Anthony J. Vega1 · Paul W. Miller2 · Robert V. Rohli2 · Jason Heavilin3 Received: 3 January 2020 / Accepted: 26 September 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Nuisance flooding (NF; also known as high-tide, or “sunny day” flooding) is an increasingly prevalent phenomenon afflicting coastal developments worldwide. NF often results when high tides, exacerbated by global sea level rise, coincide with onshore-directed surface winds. The elevated tidal condition, compounded by frictionally forced ocean currents, then inundates coastal infrastructure, posing a non-life-threatening inconvenience for local residents. Even though NF events are formed by a coupling of atmospheric and oceanic conditions, the large-scale atmospheric circulations favorable for NF have received little attention. Using a 40 year NF database derived from coastal gauge data, this study identifies the mid-tropospheric synoptic atmospheric patterns within days of NF events along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the USA. ERA-Interim reanalysis supplies 500 hPa geopotential height patterns over North America that coincide with NF events. Subsequently, a principal components analysis is performed upon all NF-associated 500 hPa patterns, disaggregated by region (New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Gulf Coast), to identify dominant intra-variability NF-related circulations. Consistent with prior work, results show that NF frequency is increasing with time. Further, each region is characterized by a unique set of dominant NF synoptic patterns. Most patterns have clear physical associations to NF mechanisms, such as a nearby 500 hPa trough that would support a surface cyclone and strong onshore surface winds, or a mid-level high-pressure cell that would direct onshoreoriented return flow along its western periphery. However, some patterns correspond less obviously to oft-referenced NF mechanisms and may instead reflect low-frequency modes of variability and/or localized influences. Keywords Nuisance flooding · Synoptic climatology · Gulf of Mexico coast · U.S. Atlantic coast · Coastal flooding · Natural hazards · Climate change · Climate variability
* Anthony J. Vega [email protected] 1
Department of Biology and Geosciences, Clarion University, Clarion, PA 16214, USA
2
Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, College of the Coast and Environment, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803‑4105, USA
3
Department of Finance, Clarion University, Clarion, PA 16214, USA
13
Vol.:(0123456789)
Natural Hazards
1 Introduction The less newsworthy flood events often go unnoticed even though they collectively impact large coastal populations and cause enormous economic losses, perhaps with an even greater cumulative impact than the extreme events (Moftakhari et al. 2017). These phenomena, often known as “high-tide,” “sunny day,” or nuisance flooding (NF; Hino et al. 2019) events, are caused by eustatic sea level rise (SLR; e.g., Churc
Data Loading...
