QUANTIFYING STORMINESS AND THE CUMULATIVE IMPACT OF STORMS ALONG THE U.S. EAST COAST USING STORM SURGE AND WAVE POWER

This study focuses on the methods used to characterize and quantify coastal ‘storminess’ and presents results of the cumulative effect of the timing and magnitude of successive storms on beaches and barriers at selected locations along the entire reach of the U.S. east coast. Using two different storm metrics (i.e., wave power and storm surge), we highlight issues surrounding storm definitions and compare results afforded by the two metrics. Preliminary analyses of data from 13 wave buoys from Jonesport, ME to Cape Canaveral, FL and 12 tide gauges from Portland, ME to Key West, Florida revealed a ubiquitous change in the storm climate along the entire length of the U.S. east coast characterized by an increase in storminess and cumulative impacts on barriers beginning c. 1980. These results suggest that changes in both the tropical and extratropical storm climate have impacted (i.e., increased erosion potential of) beaches and barriers more during the past approximately four decades than any time prior.