An 8-Yr Meteotsunami Climatology Across Northwest Europe: 2010–17
APRIL 2021 W I L L I A M S E T A L . 1145 An 8-yr Meteotsunami Climatology across Northwest Europe: 2010–17 a b c a,c DAVID A. WILLIAMS, DAVID M. SCHULTZ, KEVIN J. HORSBURGH, AND CHRIS W. HUGHES a Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom b Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom c National Oceanography Centre, Liverpool, United Kingdom (Manuscript received 1 August 2020, in final form 29 November 2020) ABSTRACT: Meteotsunamis are shallow-water waves that, despite often being small (;0.3 m), can cause damage, in- 2 juries, and fatalities due to relatively strong currents (.1ms 1). Previous case studies, modeling, and localized climatol- ogies have indicated that dangerous meteotsunamis can occur across northwest Europe. Using 71 tide gauges across northwest Europe between 2010 and 2017, a regional climatology was made to understand the typical sizes, times, and atmospheric systems that generate meteotsunamis. A total of 349 meteotsunamis (54.0 meteotsunamis per year) were identified with 0.27–0.40-m median wave heights. The largest waves (;1 m high) were measured in France and the Republic of Ireland. Most meteotsunamis were identified in winter (43%–59%), and the fewest identified meteotsunamis occurred in either spring or summer (0%–15%). There was a weak diurnal signal, with most meteotsunami identifications between 1200 and 1859 UTC (30%) and the fewest between 0000 and 0659 UTC (23%). Radar-derived precipitation was used to identify and classify the morphologies of mesoscale precipitating weather systems occurring within 6 h of each meteotsunami.
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