Observations of Landfalling Wave Spectra during Hurricane Ike

Observations of wave properties during Hurricane Ike are presented for eight temporary gauges in mean depths of 8.7–15.8 m over a 360-km section of coastline. These gauges cover both the strong (left) and weak (right) sides of the tropical cyclone, with one gauge immediately adjacent to landfall. Maximum significant wave heights are large over the entire section of the coast and reached 5.8 m near landfall but were at some locations significantly limited by the finite depths with significant wave height-to-depth ratios nearing 0.5 at landfall. Nondirectional spectral shapes changed sharply over the course of the storm, from strongly peaked profiles before landfall to much flatter, sometimes multipeaked, spectra as the hurricane came ashore. After landfall, the spectra on Ike’s strong side reverted to the sharply peaked form, whereas the weak side spectra were broader and often had multiple peaks. No waves during the storm appeared to be in equilibrium with local winds and water depths, although heights on...

[1]  Peter G. Black,et al.  Hurricane Directional Wave Spectrum Spatial Variation in the Open Ocean , 2001 .

[2]  Timothy A. Reinhold,et al.  Hurricane Andrew's Landfall in South Florida. Part I: Standardizing Measurements for Documentation of Surface Wind Fields , 1996 .

[3]  John Travis,et al.  Scientists' Fears Come True as Hurricane Floods New Orleans , 2005, Science.

[4]  J. C. Dietrich,et al.  A High-Resolution Coupled Riverine Flow, Tide, Wind, Wind Wave, and Storm Surge Model for Southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Part II: Synoptic Description and Analysis of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita , 2010 .

[5]  A. Kennedy,et al.  Building Destruction from Waves and Surge on the Bolivar Peninsula during Hurricane Ike , 2011 .

[6]  Edward B. Thornton,et al.  Transformation of wave height distribution , 1983 .

[7]  I. Young,et al.  The growth of fetch limited waves in water of finite depth. Part 1. Total energy and peak frequency , 1996 .

[8]  Mark D. Powell,et al.  The HRD real-time hurricane wind analysis system , 1998 .

[9]  I. Young,et al.  Observations of the spectra of hurricane generated waves , 1998 .

[10]  Peter G. Black,et al.  Hurricane Directional Wave Spectrum Spatial Variation at Landfall , 2002 .

[11]  J. C. Dietrich,et al.  A High-Resolution Coupled Riverine Flow, Tide, Wind, Wind Wave, and Storm Surge Model for Southern Louisiana and Mississippi. Part I: Model Development and Validation , 2010 .

[12]  Robert J. Weaver,et al.  Rapidly installed temporary gauging for hurricane waves and surge, and application to Hurricane Gustav , 2010 .