Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

Cool-Season Sea Level Anomalies and Storm Surges along the U.S. East Coast: Climatology and Comparison with the 2009/10 El Niño

William V. Sweet NOAA/National Ocean Service, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, Silver Spring, Maryland

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Chris Zervas NOAA/National Ocean Service, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, Silver Spring, Maryland

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Print Publication:
01 Jul 2011
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-10-05043.1
Page(s):
2290–2299
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Abstract

Climatologies of sea level anomalies (>0.05 m) and daily-mean storm surges (>0.3 m) are presented for the 1960–2010 cool seasons (October–April) along the East Coast of the United States at Boston, Massachusetts; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Sewells Point (Norfolk), Virginia; and Charleston, South Carolina. The high sea level anomaly and the number of storm surges, among the highest in the last half century during the 2009/10 cool season, are comparable during strong El Niño cool seasons. High numbers of daily storm surges occur in response to numerous East Coast extratropical cool-season storms and have a positive correlation with the El Niño phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Patterns of anomalously high sea levels are attributed to El Niño–related changes to atmospheric pressure over the Gulf of Mexico and eastern Canada and to the wind field over the Northeast U.S. continental shelf.

Corresponding author address: William Sweet, NOAA/National Ocean Service, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. E-mail: william.sweet@noaa.gov

Abstract

Climatologies of sea level anomalies (>0.05 m) and daily-mean storm surges (>0.3 m) are presented for the 1960–2010 cool seasons (October–April) along the East Coast of the United States at Boston, Massachusetts; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Sewells Point (Norfolk), Virginia; and Charleston, South Carolina. The high sea level anomaly and the number of storm surges, among the highest in the last half century during the 2009/10 cool season, are comparable during strong El Niño cool seasons. High numbers of daily storm surges occur in response to numerous East Coast extratropical cool-season storms and have a positive correlation with the El Niño phase of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Patterns of anomalously high sea levels are attributed to El Niño–related changes to atmospheric pressure over the Gulf of Mexico and eastern Canada and to the wind field over the Northeast U.S. continental shelf.

Corresponding author address: William Sweet, NOAA/National Ocean Service, Center for Operational Oceanographic Products and Services, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. E-mail: william.sweet@noaa.gov
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