Longshore currents on the fringe of Hurricane Anita

Abstract

Subsurface current data from a 2‐week period in August and September 1977 are compared with coastal wind stress and water level data to describe longshore motion in reponse to the passage of Hurricane Anita across the northern Gulf of Mexico. Current meters 2 and 10 m above the bottom 21.5 km off the central Texas Gulf coast indicate strongest speeds of approximately 70 and 80 cm/s, respectively, coinciding closely with the time of maximum wind stress. A qualitative comparison of the variations in sea surface slope and wind stress with the recorded longshore current suggests that both wind stress and the longshore pressure gradient combined to produce the strong flow recorded during the storm but that the pressure gradient was primarily responsible for decelerating the current after the storm made landfall.