Hurricane Matthew to trigger storm surge, beach erosion
MELBOURNE, Fla. — Hurricane Matthew poses threats in a number of ways to Florida coastal areas with high winds and heavy rains a near certainty.
But the biggest threat Matthew poses may be storm surge.
Storm surge, according to the National Hurricane Center, is seawater pushed toward the shore by winds moving around a storm. How high the surge is depends on barometric pressure and the intensity, speed, size and angle of the storm.
A storm surge is also more potent when it coincides with high tide.
How much storm surge the Florida coastline receives as Hurricane Matthew approaches is wildly variable depending upon how close the center comes to it, experts say.
More coverage of Hurricane Matthew
- Evacuations begin ahead of Matthew
- Hurricane Matthew to trigger storm surge, beach erosion
- Florida braces for Matthew
- Storm threatens these weekend sport events
- NASA images show Matthew from space
- Hurricane Matthew’s path similar to Hazel’s in 1954
- Airlines waive fees ahead of the storm
Will Ulrich, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Melbourne assessed the situation as of Tuesday afternoon, when the storm was projected to pass about 50 to 100 miles east of the Brevard County coastline. Brevard includes Satellite Beach, Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral.
“There will be an associated storm surge as it parallels the coast,” Ulrich said. “Right now, the best guess is for areas of one to three feet inundation above ground level with some areas experiencing more than three feet.”
But there could be a big swing in the surge along the coast should the storm’s center make landfall in Brevard.
“I would imagine we can get waves, certainly 10-foot waves,” said George Maul, professor of ocean engineering and sciences at Florida Tech. “Out at sea, the waves could be larger than that, 30 foot waves easily.”
Beyond the storm surge, severe beach erosion is possible at area beaches along with dangerous rip currents.
“Imagine surf 12, 15, 18 feet approaching the coastline,” Ulrich said. “That’s going to really increase the threat from beach erosion and rip current activity. Obviously, nobody should be in the water in this situation, but we really have to start worrying about beach erosion and the potential for some coastal flooding as well.”
“It’s usually the short-period waves that chew up the beach,” Maul added. “The long-period waves tend to build up the beach, so if the storm stays well offshore, we may get those nice 12-second, 10-second swells that the kids love to surf on and that will tend to bring sand onto the beach. And if the storm gets closer and we get those 5- to 6-second waves, it’ll chew up the beach and we’ll lose sand, so it depends on where the storm goes.”
Follow Chris Bonanno on Twitter: @FTChrisBonanno
