Extended Abstract (196K)17C.2
The reanalysis of Atlantic basin tropical cyclones from the 1920's: A reexamination of three catastrophic hurricanes that impacted Florida
Steven E. Feuer, NOAA/AOML/HRD, Miami, FL; and C. W. Landsea, L. Woolcock, and J. Berkeley
The Hurricane Research Division (HRD) of NOAA Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory is engaged in a project to extend and improve the quality of the National Hurricane Center's North Atlantic best track and intensity hurricane database, HURDAT, from 1851 to the present. This effort is helping to correct several errors and biases, apply more consistent analysis techniques and modern interpretations, and better determine TC landfall attributes associated with HURDAT. Focussing just on the 1920's, the HRD reanalysis utilizes archived weather data, including station observation records, historical weather maps, COADS ship reports, and written journalistic accounts.
Proposed revisions to HURDAT for the 1920's are presented along with an updated assessment of the frequency and impact of various intensity TCs for the individual years. Statistical comparisons of the total amount of TCs, hurricanes, major hurricanes, and landfalling storms are made between this decade and other decades. Additionally, the overall sample is used to verify multidecadal trends of TC activity during the period. Special attention is given to the reanalysis of three major hurricanes that made landfall along the west central and southeast coasts of Florida: late October 1921, mid-September 1926, and mid-September 1928. In addition to a detailed perspective of the proposed revised track and intensity estimates for these three hurricanes, storm surge estimates using the reanalyzed data are compared to retrospective SLOSH runs.
Supplementary URL: http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/data_sub/re_anal.html
Session 17C, Tropical cyclone best track and climatology II
Friday, 7 May 2004, 10:15 AM-12:00 PM, Napoleon II Room
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