Abstract
An analysis of the coastal flood behavior on Cuban shore area, the influence of the thermohaline structure and its trends is presented, using data archive information from the Cuban Institute of Meteorology, the Institute of Physical Planning and other sources. Weather events that have generated these floods (hurricanes, cold front systems, southern winds and extratropical system combinations) are described, taking into account the influence of ENSO event and thermohaline structure changes at the end of the XX Century. The coastal flooding behavior shows an increase in frequency and intensity in the last 40 years, as a consequence of severe event intensity and frequency growth, in coincidence with higher sea surface temperature, mixed layer depth and salinity on the Cuban surrounding waters. Most of the maximum values of thermohaline parameters were located around the Cuban Western Region, in coincidence with the most favorable area for tropical cyclone development. ENSO acts as an important modulator of the coastal flood occurrence over the Cuban territory. When it is active, its behavior influences on the frequency and intensity increase of winter floods, but inhibits the hurricane activity over the Cuban coastal zone. Hence, in this case, the coastal flood occurrence by hurricanes decreases and the other way around.
Highlights
The Cuban Archipelago is often affected by extreme meteorological events, such as hurricanes, frontal systems and extratropical system combinations, which produce severe coastal flooding; it is necessary to investigate the time and space behavior of coastal floods and events that generate them, and their trends, with emphasis on sensitive areas affected by these phenomena
It is known the existence of an active seismic zone in the Eastern provinces of the country, there is no historical evidence of significant flooding by tsunamis
The ENOS event acts as a modulator of the flood occurrence; when it is active, the winter floods are more intensive and frequent, the hurricane activity is weak, so the floods are lesser during the hurricane season
Summary
The Cuban Archipelago is often affected by extreme meteorological events, such as hurricanes, frontal systems and extratropical system combinations, which produce severe coastal flooding; it is necessary to investigate the time and space behavior of coastal floods and events that generate them, and their trends, with emphasis on sensitive areas affected by these phenomena. Of particular interest is the evolution of thermohaline structure, given its influence on the development of tropical cyclones. Cuba is one of the countries that would be seriously affected by sea level rise, under the influence of the expected climate change, given its island conditions, its geographical configuration and location, and the existence of many low-laying areas on its shore perimeter. The country has over 5000 km of coastline. More than 10% of the population lives at a distance between 0 and 1000 m from the shoreline, located mainly in low- laying areas. Important cities with more than 20 000 inhabitants would be affected by rising sea levels [1, 2]
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