Oceanweather (OWI) has a long history of quickly responding to the need for hindcasts of recent or active tropical events. A detailed reanalysis of the conditions experienced in a land-falling hurricane are required in any ocean response modeling to provide critical guidance on the extent of the storm wave and surge inundation. Modeling efforts using OWI forcing are applied in hurricane recovery activities to support those affected, and in studies to improve future resiliency.

OWI has produced a “fast-response” hindcast for Hurricane Florence (2018). Users of this data may elect to receive wind, pressure and/or OWI’s standard wave fields. The domain will include two default grids: a coarse 0.25 degree grid covering 55W-99W, 5N-47N and a high resolution 0.05 degree grid covering the specific areas affected by the storm.

Screengrab of the Oceanweather (OWI) Tropical Analyst Workstation (TAWS) for 9/14/2018 06Z snap of Hurricane Florence prior to landfall, showing available wind and pressure measurements and the associated model output produced by the expert meteorologist.

OWI’s tropical cyclone hindcast expertise, experience, and capabilities are well documented in publications, presentations and exisiting metocean studies. Similar previous fast-response hindcasts include Katrina and Rita in 2005, Sandy in 2012, and Harvey in 2017. These hindcasts have been used by industry and academia, often as the source of high quality reference winds for detailed storm surge modeling. Further details and related papers can be found on our web site at the following links:

Those wishing to obtain results from Hurricane Florence can contact Erin Harris via email at erinh@oceanweather.com or by phone at 1-203-661-3091.