Abstract
Analysis of 20-year time series of water levels in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico has revealed that meteotsunamis are ubiquitous in this region. On average, 1–3 meteotsunamis with wave heights >0.5 m occur each year in this area. The probability of meteotsunami occurrence is highest during March–April and June–August. Meteotsunamis in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico can be triggered by winter and summer extra-tropical storms and by tropical cyclones. In northwestern Florida most of the events are triggered by winter storms, while in west and southwest Florida they appear both in winter and summer. Atmospheric pressure and wind anomalies (periods <6 h) associated with the passage of squalls originated the majority of the observed meteotsunami events. The most intense meteotsunamigenic periods took place during El Niño periods (1997–1998, 2009–2010 and 2015–2016). Meteotsunamis were also active in 2005, a year characterized by exceptionally intense tropical cyclone activity. Meteotsunami incidence varied yearly and at periods between 2 and 5 years. Results from cross-wavelet analysis suggested that El Niño and meteotsunami activity are correlated at annual and longer-period bands.
Highlights
Meteorological tsunamis or meteotsunamis are sea-level oscillations with periods from a few minutes to a few hours (\6 h) (Monserrat et al 2006)
This study focuses on the analysis of meteotsunami events detected by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) tidal gauges in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico
The summer activity differed substantially from one station to the other. These results suggest that while tropical cyclones and winter mesoscale convective system (MCS) have a spatial influence over the northeastern and eastern Gulf of Mexico, the effect of summer storms is more localized than winter events
Summary
Meteorological tsunamis or meteotsunamis are sea-level oscillations with periods from a few minutes to a few hours (\6 h) (Monserrat et al 2006). They are multiresonant waves initiated by moving atmospheric disturbances (sudden wind and/or atmospheric pressure changes), which are usually associated with frontal passages, squalls, thunderstorms and atmospheric gravity waves. Meteotsunamis have been described extensively by Monserrat et al (2006) and Rabinovich et al (2009). The free-surface elevation response g to a periodic atmospheric disturbance (either atmospheric pressure forcing or the divergence of wind stress) traveling at the speed U and angle h is given by (Lamb 1932; Proudman 1953; Vennell 2010): gf 1⁄4
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