Significant Storm Events
Storm surges are caused in part by high winds. Given that winds precede the highest surge levels, it is necessary to view the wind history leading up to the high surge levels to in order find significant storms.
As noted storm surge is related to a number of factors including wind and atmospheric pressure, storm tracking, local bathymetry, and exposure. However, even moderate storm surges can create high water levels if they occur at higher tide levels, whereas high surges may pass without much impact at lower tide levels. For this reason, the Water Modeler estimates the probability of re-occurrence of overall observed water levels statistically, based on the historical record.