Topical Area: Meteorology

Samuel H. Houston and Mark D. Powell, NOAA/AOML/HRD, Miami, FL

Hurricanes constitute episodic events which affect the physical and oceanographic processes within Florida Bay. These effects are manifested by significant changes in water-levels, waves, currents, and sediment transport processes. In addition, these storms impact plant and animal life in the bay and the surrounding areas. Hurricane wind fields are now being made available to researchers, such as oceanographers and biologists, on a Hurricane Research Division World Wide Web site (http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd). Researchers can use the wind fields to estimate the potential impacts of future tropical cyclones on the south Florida ecosystem and especially on Florida Bay.

The hurricanes used in this study were the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Donna of 1960, Betsy of 1965, Felix of 1987, and Andrew of 1992. These tropical cyclones represented vastly different scenarios for the type of event that might be expected over extreme south Florida. The 1935 hurricane was a Category 5 storm and is the most intense hurricane known to have struck the USA. This hurricane had a relatively small, concentrated wind field when it crossed the Florida Keys and Florida Bay. Hurricane Donna (1960) was a Category 4 hurricane with a much broader wind field that crossed the keys and bay on a similar track to the 1935 Hurricane. Hurricane Andrew was a fast moving Category 4 hurricane when it struck south Florida recently. However, its strongest winds covered only a very small area, especially to the south of the storm track. The direct impact of Andrew on Florida Bay appears to have been minimal, but decomposing organic storm debris in the Everglades likely contributed to water quality problems in the bay.

This poster will briefly describe the methods used to generate these surface wind fields. Some examples of hurricane wind fields and their impacts on the Florida Bay will be provided. Details about the HRD web site containing these wind fields will also be presented.