Storm Surge

A storm surge is the abnormal rise of coastal water driven by a storm’s wind stress piling water against the shore and by the low atmospheric pressure under its center. Surge height depends on storm intensity, forward speed, track angle, and the shape and depth of the continental shelf, so shallow, gently sloping coasts amplify it. Combined with the astronomical tide it gives the storm tide, the level that actually floods land; sea-level rise raises the baseline on which every future surge builds.