Addressing Meteotsunamis in NWS Operational Forecasts

Meteotsunamis are created by transitory weather disturbances moving over water have a long history of impacting the US, and have resulted in loss of life and property. Historically, they have been often misdiagnosed as seiches, anomalous weather-related waves, or ignored altogether. In this paper we will briefly review meteotsunami generation mechanisms common in the US, the regions in which they are most often produced, and highlight several classic historical cases of US meteotsunami formation and impact. We will then describe recent advances in sensing and understanding that led to the establishment of initial, rudimentary alerting capabilities for the US Great Lakes, and US east and Gulf coasts. Finally, we will describe the major challenges and gaps that must be overcome to move the US toward a comprehensive meteotsunami forecast and warning capability and how we envision the various components of NOAA (e.g., NOAA labs, Weather Forecast Offices, NOS CO-OPS and National Centers) working together to achieve this vision.