Tropical cyclone-driven storm surge and wave database for the US North Atlantic and Gulf coastlines

Historical datasets of tropical cyclone-driven storm surge and waves at moderate coastal resolution are scarce, limiting coastal hazard analysis and AI/ML-based surrogate model development where field observations remain sparse. We present a publicly available hindcast database of surge and wave conditions for 232 U.S. landfalling and impactful storms (1981-2021). We applied the coupled ADCIRC+SWAN system across the entire U.S. North Atlantic and Gulf coastline on a coastal-refined unstructured mesh achieving practical nearshore resolution (~100 - 500 m) for computational feasibility. We forced simulations with parametric wind fields from the Generalized Asymmetric Holland Model fitted to NOAA best-track data. For each event, we provide hourly NetCDF files containing water-surface elevation, significant wave height, and peak wave period. Users can apply these fields as boundary conditions for higher-resolution local models, train ML model predictors, and conduct coastwide extreme-value analyses. We validated simulations against numerous NOAA tide gauges and NDBC buoys, demonstrating robust water level skill with documented wave biases. This comprehensive basin-scale database enables coastal flood hazard assessment across multiple decades of historical storm surge events.

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Publication Details

Journal
Scientific Data
Published
2026-06-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-026-07635-z
Primary Topic
Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Tropical cyclone-driven storm surge and wave database for the US North Atlantic and Gulf coastlines

W. Brent Daniel, Mithun Deb, Karthik Balaguru, Tim McPherson et al.
Scientific Data
Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
article

Tropical cyclone-driven storm surge and wave database for the US North Atlantic and Gulf coastlines

W. Brent Daniel, Mithun Deb, Karthik Balaguru, Tim McPherson, Julian Rice
article en

Abstract

Historical datasets of tropical cyclone-driven storm surge and waves at moderate coastal resolution are scarce, limiting coastal hazard analysis and AI/ML-based surrogate model development where field observations remain sparse. We present a publicly available hindcast database of surge and wave conditions for 232 U.S. landfalling and impactful storms (1981-2021). We applied the coupled ADCIRC+SWAN system across the entire U.S. North Atlantic and Gulf coastline on a coastal-refined unstructured mesh achieving practical nearshore resolution (~100 - 500 m) for computational feasibility. We forced simulations with parametric wind fields from the Generalized Asymmetric Holland Model fitted to NOAA best-track data. For each event, we provide hourly NetCDF files containing water-surface elevation, significant wave height, and peak wave period. Users can apply these fields as boundary conditions for higher-resolution local models, train ML model predictors, and conduct coastwide extreme-value analyses. We validated simulations against numerous NOAA tide gauges and NDBC buoys, demonstrating robust water level skill with documented wave biases. This comprehensive basin-scale database enables coastal flood hazard assessment across multiple decades of historical storm surge events.

Scientific Data
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (US), Medical Research Associates (US)
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Tropical and Extratropical Cyclones Research
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Tropical cyclone-driven storm surge and wave database for the US North Atlantic and Gulf coastlines — W. Brent Daniel, Mithun Deb, et al. · Scientific Data (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS