Analysis of northern events on the Gulf of Tehuantepec and their effects on navigation

Abstract

The maritime areas of greatest risk in the Gulf of Tehuantepec, are derived from the strong winds and waves presented during the northern events that occurred during the cold front seasons, these meteorological phenomena affect activities related to navigation and represent a danger to the civil population due to the strong intensities of the wind and the height of the waves. The objective of the present investigation was to identify the maritime zones of greatest risk to navigation on the Gulf of Tehuantepec, derived from the analysis of the events of the north during the period 2015-2019, with the purpose of warning and making the maritime community aware. regional and national, the areas where the effects of the northern events are more intense. Likewise, for the analysis, interpretation and identification of the northern events, wind data recorded at the Automatic Meteorological Station (EMA) of the Secretary of the Navy (SEMAR), located in the Port of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, and reanalysis data of the set were used. of wind and wave data from ERA5, for its subsequent processing through the Python programming language for the generation of maps of the variables. This gave as a result that a radius of the first 80 Nautical Miles (NM) of the Port of Salina Cruz, Oaxaca has intense wind and wave conditions during the month of January and very intense conditions appearing in a radius of 120 NM around said zone. Of the 56 northern events associated with cold fronts, 40 were classified as strong and 16 were classified as very strong, being of great relevance to avoid navigation accidents.