Marin, Storm surge is pretty much as Jim explained it. It is exacerbated by the fact that after the storm goes by the wind shifts to the south so now you have 100+mph wind blowing even more water and waves your way. This is a real problem when you are in a place like Mobile or Tampa Bay or Charlotte Harbor which are basically cul-de-sac's and there is no where for the water to go so it piles up. Poor New Orleans, being below sea level to begin with, is a whole other kettle of fish. Regards, Randy Pickelmann MORNING STAR

in some cases, low water on the opposite side can cause some problems too. i think it was with andrew where water was low south of the storm, wasn't it? i've also wondered if atmospheric pressure doesn't add to wind piling up water on one side of the storm. with pressure in the low 900s, i would think that the higher pressure elsewhere force water higher in the low? or did I miss something in physic 101? problem is that on top of the surge, you get the waves... so it's often 10' PLUS waves... or 20' PLUS waves. it doens't take a hurricane for wind to affect water level... florida bay, on the north sides of the keys can be affected by long period of winds when front move thru. it can be an issue as depths are ofen low to start with (5 to 6' in many spots...) pascal miami, fl 70 hatteras 53my ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randy Pickelmann" <rwp48@verizon.net> To: <trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com> Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 8:40 AM Subject: T&T: Storm surge question > Marin, > Storm surge is pretty much as Jim explained it. It is exacerbated by the fact > that after the storm goes by the wind shifts to the south so now you have > 100+mph wind blowing even more water and waves your way. This is a real > problem when you are in a place like Mobile or Tampa Bay or Charlotte Harbor > which are basically cul-de-sac's and there is no where for the water to go so > it piles up. Poor New Orleans, being below sea level to begin with, is a > whole other kettle of fish. > Regards, > Randy Pickelmann > MORNING STAR > _______________________________________________ > http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering > > To unsubscribe send email to > trawlers-and-trawlering-request@lists.samurai.com with the word > UNSUBSCRIBE and nothing else in the subject or body of the message. > > Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World > Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.

...and remember that storm surge is measured from sea level. So if you have a 10' storm surge, and you're at sea level, you'll have 10' of water in your lap, plus the waves on top. Now if you're below sea level, like a lot of New Orleans, say -5', you'll have 15' of water plus waves where you (were) standing. Keith _____ There's too much blood in my caffeine system. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pascal Gademer" <pascal@pam-trading.com> > > problem is that on top of the surge, you get the waves... so it's often > 10' > PLUS waves... or 20' PLUS waves.

i've also wondered if atmospheric pressure doesn't add to wind piling up water on one side of the storm. with pressure in the low 900s, i would think that the higher pressure elsewhere force water higher in the low? or did I miss something in physic 101? pascal, You are correct. The low, very low, pressure in the eye "Pulls" water up just as in a straw. The high pressure outside th storm " pushes" it dwn. Thus the surge. This surge then gets into shallow water, the shore line, and has nowhere to go but UP compounding the problem. Thus even large baots being lifted and shoved around. I will have pictures of this on my web site in a day or two and will advise wehn they are up. It is mind boggling and unbeleivable. Ocean going barges and 200 ft boats lifted over 20 ft high levies!! 80 ft steel shrimp boats stacked like cord wood. Andrew came right thru here, we were in the NE quadrant, and it was Kindergarten to Katrina's graduate school. This was a terrible storm. Andy had an eye of abt 10 miles, this one abt FORTY miles.--- And then the levee broke in New Orleans CCC Charles C. Jr., and Pat Culotta M/V CCRIDER Patterson, La. http://www.geocities.com/charlesculotta