Aug 31, 2012
Homogeneous record of Atlantic hurricane surge threat since 1923
by
,
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Constructs an independent record of Atlantic tropical cyclone activity on the basis of storm surge statistics from tide gauges
- Demonstrates that the major events in our surge index record can be attributed to landfalling tropical cyclones; these events also correspond with the most economically damaging Atlantic cyclones
- Finds that warm years in general were more active in all cyclone size ranges than cold years
- Finds the largest cyclones are most affected by warmer conditions and we detect a statistically significant trend in the frequency of large surge events (roughly corresponding to tropical storm size) since 1923
- Estimates that Katrina-magnitude events have been twice as frequent in warm years compared with cold years (P < 0.02)