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2012 AASC Meeting2012 AASC Meeting
LOUISIANA OFFICE of STATE CLIMATOLOGYLouisiana State University
Dept. of Geography & Anthropology Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (225) 578-6870 -- Office (225) 578-2912 -- FAX
Kyle BreheUser ServicesMoe Moreau NWS Liason
• Handle Hundreds of Data Requests Annually• Give Hundreds of Media Requests Annually• Contribute to the RISA-Southern Climate Impacts
Planning Program (SCIPP)• Perform Applied Research
THREE EXAMPLES OF RECENT RESEARCH
•Nashville, TN Storm of May 1-2, 2010 – w/ AWA
•Rainiest TSs and Hurricanes in the Eastern US
•SURGEDAT – Storm Surge Database
Nashville, TNMay 2010
Wilks-Barre, PA June 1972 (H Agnes)
Bolivar Peninsula, TX September 2008 (H Ike)
Nashville Storm and FloodingMay 1-2, 2010
Deep Trough – W./C. US * Slow Moving Cold Front * Strong Advection off of Gulf
Geographical Pattern of Rainfall Across Tennessee, May 1-2, 2010
Peak near Brownville at 19.71”
Depth-Area-Duration Table for Point of Maximum Rainfall
Nashville, TN Brownsville, TN
Return Frequencies of the Tennessee Storm May 1-2, 2010
Year NAME Vol (km3) VolRank Area(KM2) AreaRank Distance
(km) DistRank Speed (km/h) SpeedRank
1972 AGNES 113 1 1107049 4 1829 39 23 56
2008 IKE 96 2 1283524 1 2912 3 20 83
1985 JUAN 84 3 920704 9 2146 26 16 128
1999 FLOYD 75 4 780562 17 2335 22 30 30
1989 ALLISON 73 5 506404 61 337 177 9 184
1979 DAVID 69 6 1105424 5 2314 23 26 46
1961 CARLA 67 7 825508 14 1386 79 14 146
1960 DONNA 65 8 862436 11 2827 6 30 28
2002 ISIDORE 59 9 537264 52 1212 88 17 124
2010 HERMINE 57 10 1252800 3 1046 100 22 70
Wettest TSs and Hurricanes in the U.S. 1960-2011 in Water Volume (192 Storms)
From: David Roth, Hydrometeorological Prediction Center, NCEP, NOAA
Storm Tracks and Rainfall Patterns for Hurricanes Agnes and Ike
SURGEDAT – The World’s Most Comprehensive Tropical Storm Surge Database
Map of Surge Activity along the U.S. Gulf Coast
SURGEDAT utilized 70 sources of surge data (U.S. Gulf Coast)
Federal Government: 28
Books and Academic Publications: 23
Historic newspapers: 16 titles3,120 pages of newspaper read
Top 10 Storm Surges in the Gulf of Mexico 1880-2009
Rank Surge (ft) Storm Year Peak Loc.
1 27.8 Katrina 2005 Pass Christian, MS
2 24.6 Camille 1969 Pass Christian, MS
3 20.0 Galveston 1900 Galveston, TX
3 20.0 Labor Day 1935 Long Key, FL
5 18.5 Carla 1961 Port Lavaca, TX
6 18.2 Eloise 1975 Dune Allen Bch, FL
7 18.0 Beulah 1967 South Padre Is, TX
8 17.5 Ike 2008 Chambers Co., TX
9 17.0 New Orleans 1915 Southeastern LA
10 16.0 Cheniere Caminada
1893 Cheniere Caminada, LA
10 16.0 Unnamed 1919 Corpus Christi, TX
SRCC linear regression for Gulf Coast storm surges
Return Period (years)
SRCC Surge Level(meters)
SRCC Surge Level (feet)
100 8.20 26.90
50 7.22 23.69
25 6.24 20.47
10 4.95 16.24
5 3.97 13.02
2 2.67 8.76
Storm Surge Quantiles for U.S. Gulf Coast
Building Full Envelopes of Storm Surge: Example Hurricane Ike