Storm Surge Animations from NOAA's SLOSH model

These storm surge water depth animations and envelope of high water still images for famous hurricanes show the modeled storm surge using NOAA's SLOSH (Sea, Lake, and Overland Surge from Hurricanes) storm surge model. The color-coded images show the water depth at each grid cell in the SLOSH model domain. Thus, the images depict the storm tide (the combination of a hurricane's storm surge height above mean sea level (MSL), plus an extra adjustment for how far above or below MSL the tide was), minus the elevation of the land surface (if the grid point is over land). The difference of the tide from MSL is shown at the bottom of the color legend. For example, the Hurricane Katrina simulation was done assuming the tide was 2.5 feet above MSL. SLOSH output is shown every half hour for the animations, and wind barbs showing the hurricane's wind speed and direction according to the Standard Station Model are superimposed on each frame of the animation. The envelope of high water images show the maximum depth of water that was simulated at each grid cell during the entire model run. The water did not reach this maximum depth simultaneously at the grid cells. SLOSH model runs are advertised as being in error by plus or minus 20%. SLOSH is the primary model used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is also the basis for Hurricane Evacuation Studies (HES). The SLOSH Display Package does not make storm surge simulations available for a number of famous storms, such as Wilma and Rita of 2005, so you will not see animations for a number of storms that would be interesting.

Animation

Envelope of high water

History

Animation

Envelope of high water

History