Assessing Storm Surge Parameters for Landfalling Tropical Storms Along the Northern Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast of the U.S.

Storm surge is a catastrophic and potentially life threatening by-product of a tropical storm. A variety of factors directly influence storm surge, including: a tropical storm’s winds, pressure, and size measured in terms of wind radii. This study analyzes these factors using maximum storm surge data found from the Storm Surge Database (SURGEDAT) and United States landfall data from the Hurricane Research Division’s (HRD) Re-Analysis project. The tropical storms surveyed in this research occurred in the Atlantic Tropical Basin from 1980-2014. The primary factors analyzed in this study are a tropical storm’s wind, pressure, and wind radii at or near the reported landfall location and the corresponding maximum storm surge associated with each tropical storm. Additionally, this project explores the relationship between the landfall location of a tropical storm and the location of the maximum storm surge by calculating the maximum surge’s angle and distance from the landfall location. The ultimate goal of this study is to investigate whether or not a significant correlation exists between a specific storm parameter and the maximum storm surge that is produced. Through analyzing the correlation coefficient of the various storm parameters, preliminary results indicate that a moderate positive correlation exists for a tropical storm’s wind and a moderate negative correlation exists for a tropical storm’s pressure.