A storm surge is the increase in ocean water level near the coast generated by a passing storm, above that resulting from astronomical tides. The atmosphere acts on the sea in two distinctly different ways. A reduction in the atmospheric pressure reduces the vertical force acting on a column of water beneath the sea surface, causing the sea water to rise, and vice versa. A decrease in atmospheric pressure of 1 mb will produce an increase in sea level of around 1 cm. This change is called the inverse barometer effect. The inverse barometer effect is seldom exactly observed in nature, because of the complex ways in which shallower waters of the continental shelves interact with passing atmospheric pressure systems.
Another major meteorological process contributing to the surge is the drag or stress on the sea surface due to the wind, measured as the horizontal force per unit area. Wind stress depends upon the wind speed and air density. The wind strength as well as direction relative to...
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Cross-Bibliography
Changing Sea Levels
Meteorologic Effects on Coasts
Natural Hazards
Sea-Level Rise, Effect
Tide Gauges
Tides
Waves
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Gornitz, V. (2005). Storm Surge. In: Schwartz, M.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3880-1_298
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