World storm surge records
There's still not much to talk about the tropical Atlantic today. The Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), the band of intense thunderstorms that spans the tropical Atlantic between Africa and the Lesser Antilles Islands, has grown more active in the past few days, though. The two tropical waves in the ITCZ closest to the coast of Africa bear some scrutiny this week as they cross the Atlantic. However, none of the models are currently forecasting development of these waves, and there is plenty of wind shear and dry air that will interfere with potential development.
World storm surge records
In preparation for the release of a major new storm surge section of the web site, I've been researching storm surge records. The Bathurst Bay Cyclone, also known as Tropical Cyclone Mahina, which struck Bathurst Bay, Australia on March 5, 1899, is generally credited with the world record for storm surge. The cyclone's storm surge is variously listed at 13 - 14.6 meters (43 - 48 feet). The Category 5 cyclone was a monster--with sustained winds in excess of 175 mph and a central pressure between 880 and 914 mb. Mahina killed at least 307 people, mostly on pearling ships, and was the deadliest cyclone in Australian history. The eyewitness account of Mahina's record storm surge was provided by Constable J. M. Kenny, who journeyed to Barrow Point on Bathurst Bay to investigate a crime on the day of the storm. While camped on a ridge 40 feet above sea level and 1/2 mile inland, Kenny's camp was inundated by a storm wave, reaching waist-deep. On nearby Flinders Island, fish and dolphins were found on top of 15 meter (49 foot) cliffs. However, an analysis by Nott and Hayne (2000) found no evidence of storm-deposited debris higher than 3 - 5 meters above mean sea level in the region. They also cited two computer storm surge simulations of the cyclone that were unable to generate a surge higher than three meters. Indeed, Bathurst Bay is not ideally situated to receive high storm surges. The Great Barrier Reef lies just 20 - 40 km offshore, and the ocean bottom near the bay is not shallow, but steeply sloped. Both of these factors should conspire to keep storm surges well below the record 13 - 14.6 meters reported. The authors concluded that the actual surge from the Bathurst Bay Cyclone may have been 3 - 5 meters. The observed inundation at 13 meters elevation, plus the observation of dolphins deposited at 15 meters above sea level, could have been caused by high waves on top of the surge, they argue. Waves on top of the surge (called "wave run-up") can reach five times the wave height at the shore for steeply fronted coasts like at Bathurst Bay. Since waves in the Bathurst Bay Cyclone could easily have been 3 meters, 15 meters of wave run-up on top of the surge is quite feasible. Since wave run-up doesn't count as surge, the status of the 1899 Bathurst Bay Hurricane as the world-record holder for storm surge is questionable. However, the event is certainly the record holder for the high water mark set by a tropical cyclone's storm surge, an important category in its own right.
Figure 1. Satellite image of Bathurst Bay, Queensland Province, Australia. The record 43 - 48 foot storm surge wave occurred on Barrow Point, marked by an "x" on the map above. Image credit: NASA.
Figure 2. Track of the 1899 Bathurst Bay cyclone. Bathurst Bay is located at the point where the 914 mb pressure is listed. Image credit: Whittingham, 1958.
Australian storm surge records
The largest storm surges in Australia occur in Gulf of Carpentaria, due to the large expanse of shallow water there (the Gulf of Carpentaria is the large bay to the left of the zoomed-in map of Bathurst Bay shown above). According to an email I received from Australian hurricane scientist Jeffrey Callaghan, "From all reports the storm surge from the disastrous 5 March 1887 cyclone flooded almost all of Burketown (some 30km inland from the Gulf). A copy of a 1918 report to the Queensland Parliament from the Department of Harbours and Rivers Engineer refers to the sea rising to 5.5 metres above the highest spring tide level at the Albert River Heads. This level is about 8 metres (26.2 feet) above Australian Height Datum (AHD). The biggest measured surge in the Gulf of Carpenteria occurred on 30 March 1923, when a surge of 21.4 feet was recorded at a Groote Eylandt Mission".
So what is the world storm surge record if the Bathurst Bay cyclone does not qualify? Well, I haven't researched storms in the Indian Ocean or Pacific Typhoons yet, but it might be difficult to find any storm that beats Hurricane Katrina's 27.8 foot storm surge.
References:
Nott, J, N. Hayne, 2000: How high was the storm surge from Tropical Cyclone Mahina?", Australian Journal of Emergency Management, Autumn 2000.
Anonymous, 1899, The Outridge Report--The Pearling Disaster 1899: A Memorial", The Outridge Company, 1899
Whittingham, 1958, "The Bathurst Bay hurricane and associated storm surge", Australian Meteorological Magazine, No. 27, pp. 40-41. Scanned and put on-line courtesy of John McBride.
I'll have an update on Tuesday, when the latest CSU seasonal hurricane forecast comes out at 11am EDT.
.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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Seems like you are impressed at this disturbance, Storm. Do you think this should be mentioned at 2 am?
LOL!!! Dry "rainy" season huh Cayman! Got a feeling this might be made up eventually if we have a system pass near by
You know what they say, careful what you wish for LOL
Ehhh, 50k feet at 9 N is not much different from the tornado alley storms here in the US...42k feet at 35 N. Higher tropopause near the equator.
Not saying it's looking bad, but I would expect anything with decent convection at 9 N to get to that altitude.
Tropical Disturbance Summary (0000z 04AUG)
=========================================
At 9:00 AM JST, Low Pressure Area (1008 hPa) located at 11.0N 150.0E has 10 minute sustained winds of 15-20 knots and is reported as almost stationary
Exactly.
LOL... you killed his excitement
Even IF the TWV felt that this MIGHT/POSSIBLE develop into something it is not an immediate threat to land. I don't blame them for not publicly acknowledging this YET.
IF it looks like it could develop and models started picking up on it, I would hope that this would get mentioned and the Yellow, Orange, and Red Alert circles would start appearing....
Until then, this is fun to track, read about, and see who gets whether this will develop and when if it does, correct.
LOL
No offense AllStar, but atm it is in the middle of no where. They are notorious for waiting on these types of systems. Soon enough they will say something if it continues to show signs of development.
jajajajaaja
My point is that this is the best feature for convection we have seen so far this year out there, at least as far as I can recall.
heheheh
StormJunkie -- The EPAC systems are really in the middle of nowhere, also.
...THE ITCZ...
THE ITCZ AXIS IS CENTERED ALONG 14N15W 9N29W 11N42W 9N50W
12N61W. BROAD AREA OF MID LEVEL CYCLONIC ROTATION IS EMBEDDED
WITHIN THE ITCZ NEAR 9N29W WHERE A SURFACE TROUGH WILL BE
ANALYZED AT 04/0000 UTC. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS STRONG CONVECTION
IS WITHIN A 60 NM RADIUS OF 9N31W. SCATTERED MODERATE TO
ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTION COVERS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA FROM
6N-11N BETWEEN 27W-33W. CLUSTERS OF ISOLATED MODERATE CONVECTION
DOT THE AREA WITHIN 200 NM EITHER SIDE OF THE ENTIRE ITCZ.
Banding? Sure!
Funny how they lurk and pounce eh LOL
Sounds about right. Wave father east might be the one to watch.
Hey ky are you from Caymans?
LOL
not if this were somewhere in the Gulf or off the east coast.
The GFS has energy from both areas becoming one and forming a broad but closed surface low:
That remains to be seen.
No DDR...Grand Cayman
Ivan became a Hurricane at 9.5 Lat.
850mb
550mb
remember 93L, lol
True, just not that excited about it yet. ITCZ, 9 N, convection and all that ;-)
Peels away from the ITCZ and maintains that convection...that would worth sitting on the edge of the chair a little.
METEO FRANCE
Eastern Atlantic High Sea Forecast
Low 1013 by 16N 26W, moving southwestwards
expected 1012 by 12N 28W at 05/00 UTC.
Tropical wave along 19W/20W S of 18N moving W near 15 KT.
ITCZ along 13N 15W 9N 28W 12N 38W 10N 50W.
Sorry. Just showed up, honestly.
Duly noted, but far improved from 8 this morning.
Agreed.
Cool..welcome to the club,we been getting alot of caribbean people up in here recently.
I can see you haven't been getting much rain,that sucks.Its been average here,(Trinidad)not so much in june though.
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