Cool-Season Sea Level Anomalies and Storm Surges along the US East Coast: Climatology and Comparison with the 2009/10 El Nino

Climatologics of sea level anomalies (>0.05 m) and daily-mean storm surges (>0.3 m) are presented for the 1960-2010 cool seasons (October April) along the East Coast of the United States at Boston, Massachusetts; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Sewells Point (Norfolk), Virginia; and Charleston, South Carolina. The high sea level anomaly and the number of storm surges, among the highest in the last half century during the 2009/10 cool season, are comparable during strong El Nino cool seasons. High numbers of daily storm surges occur in response to numerous East Coast extratropical cool-season storms and have a positive correlation with the El Nino phase of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Patterns of anomalously high sea levels are attributed to El Nino related changes to atmospheric pressure over the Gulf of Mexico and eastern Canada and to the wind field over the Northeast U.S. continental shelf.