New global storm surge reconstructions database draws on CPO investments in 20th-century reanalysis project

Hurricane Michael made landfall near Mexico Beach, Florida on October 10, 2018, coming ashore with a strong storm surge. Credit: FEMA

In 2019, NOAA released an update to its CPO-supported weather “time machine”—the third version of the 20th Century Reanalysis Project (20CRv3). 20CRv3 is a high-resolution, four-dimensional reconstruction of the global climate that estimates what the weather was for every day from 1836 to 2015. Recently published in Nature Scientific Data, researchers used 20CRv3, along with four other reanalysis products, to create a new database of reconstructions for past global storm surges—one of the deadliest coastal hazards. The new database allows scientists to see how climate change and variability impacted storm surges in the past to help communities prepare for the future.

The paper highlights the usefulness of reanalysis products including the joint NOAA-CIRES-DOE 20CRv3 and provides an example of why having multiple reanalyses can bolster foundational research and our understanding of climate. Multiple CPO programs provided support for 20CRv3’s development including the Modeling, Analysis, Predictions and Projections (MAPP) and the Climate Observations and Modeling (COM) programs.

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