An Analysis of Storm Surge Swaths from Significant Gulf of Mexico Hurricanes

The population of coastal communities in the United States continues to grow at a faster rate than that of inland areas, placing more people, residences, and businesses at risk due to inundation from storm surge. The exponential increase in residents along the coast indicates the need for additional storm surge research. This study focuses on notable storm surge events from tropical cyclones that have made landfall along the Gulf coast of the United States. Envelopes, or swaths, of surge heights are constructed from archived tropical surge events in SURGEDAT to show the spatial extent and magnitude of surges before, during, and after tropical cyclone landfall. Spatial statistics provide a quantitative analysis in support of SLOSH model predictions. Results of this project contribute to the advancement of storm surge research and helps meteorologists and emergency managers improve mitigation efforts and forecasts for future events.