Increasing storm tides in New York Harbor, 1844-2013

S. A. Talke, P. Orton, D. A. Jay

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

119 Scopus citations

Abstract

Three of the nine highest recorded water levels in the New York Harbor region have occurred since 2010 (March 2010, August 2011, and October 2012), and eight of the largest twenty have occurred since 1990. To investigate whether this cluster of high waters is a random occurrence or indicative of intensified storm tides, we recover archival tide gauge data back to 1844 and evaluate the trajectory of the annual maximum storm tide. Approximately half of long-term variance is anticorrelated with decadal-scale variations in the North Atlantic Oscillation, while long-term trends explain the remainder. The 10 year storm tide has increased by 0.28 m. Combined with a 0.44 m increase in local sea level since 1856, the 10 year flood level has increased by approximately 0.72±0.25 m, and magnified the annual probability of overtopping the typical Manhattan seawall from less than 1% to about 20-25%. Key Points Significant change in storm tide magnitudes have occurred in NY since 1840s Interannual variability in storm tides is anticorrelated with NAO index Including MSL rise, a 0.72 ± 0.2 m increase in 10 year flood level is estimated

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3149-3155
Number of pages7
JournalGeophysical Research Letters
Volume41
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 May 2014

Keywords

  • Extreme Events
  • New York
  • North Atlantic Oscillation
  • coastal flood risk
  • return interval
  • storm tide/storm surge

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