Storm tides of the North Sea

Netherlands Flood 1809

A storm tide is a tide with a high flood period caused by a storm. Storm tides can be a severe danger to the coast and the people living along the coast. The water level can rise to more than 5 metres (17 ft) above the normal tide.

The North Sea, especially the Netherlands, northern Germany and Denmark is particularly susceptible to storm tides. The coastline of the German Bight forms an L-shape facing northwest. Also vulnerable is the southern North Sea between England and the Netherlands, where the sea shallows and is funnelled between the land. For the protection of the low-lying areas along the coast, long and high dike systems have been built. Storm tides are a regular occurrence in these areas; usually, there are several storm tides each winter. Most of them do not cause significant damage.

Effect on coast line

The Danish coastline changed following the flood of 1825; the North Jutlandic Island got separated from the Jutland Peninsula.[1]

Major storm tides

Recent storm tides

The flood of 1976 and the "North Frisian Flood" of 1981 brought the highest water levels measured to date on the North Sea coast, but because of sea defences such as improved warning systems and dikes built and modified after the flood of 1962, these led only to property damage.[13][14]

Comparative table of surge heights along the east coast of Britain

Water levels during the storm surges of 1953, 1976, 1978,[15] 1983, 1993, 2006 and 2013 (metres O.D.)
Location 1953 evening tide 1976 evening tide 1978 observed evening tide 1983 February [16] 1993 January/February 1993 2006 November 1 2013 December 5 [17]
Wick - - 3.92 - - - 2.07
North Shields 3.32 3.43 3.52 - - - 3.58
Barton on Humber - - 5.15 - - - -
South Ferriby 4.79 5.30 5.30 - - - -
Immingham 4.50 4.50 4.67 - - - 5.80
Grimsby - 4.35 4.50 - - - -
Boygrift - 4.30 4.50 - - - -
Boston Dock 5.25 5.24 5.50 - - - -
Boston Grand Sluice 5.40 5.22 5.63 - - - -
Boston - - - - - - 6.10[18]
Fosdyke ca. 5.40 5.18 5.90 - - - -
Wisbech ca. 5.10 4.99 5.60 - - - -
King's Lynn 5.65 4.99 5.92 - - - -
Wells 5.13 4.46 4.91 - - - 5.31[19]
Great Yarmouth 3.28 2.69 2.19 2.59 - 2.52 -
Haddiscoe - - 1.76 1.70 1.58 1.74 -
Lowestoft - - - - - - 2.97
Southwold 3.50 2.50 2.00 - - - -
Aldeburgh 3.78 2.83 2.45 - - - -
Sheerness - - - - - - 3.00[20]

See also

References

  1. "Vendsyssel-Thy Britannica Online Encyclopedia". 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
  2. This event is recorded by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: "This year on Michaelmas Eve came the great sea-flood widely through the land, and it ran farther up than it ever had, flooded many towns, and drowned countless human beings."
  3. "Flood alert!" (PDF). Met Office. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
  4. "netherlands map and map of the netherlands information page". Graphic Maps. World Atlas.com. 2006. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
  5. "Newton Marsh Sewage Treatment Works, Tetney, Lincolnshire" (PDF). Archaeological Monitoring of Project Clear Water. 1995. doi:10.5284/1014822. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  6. "Thames Barrier Project Pack 2012" (PDF). Environment Agency. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  7. "200 years since flood to end all floods...". Lincolnshire Echo. 10 November 2010. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  8. "Coastal Flood Risk and Trends for the future in the North Sea Region" (PDF). Safecoast. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  9. Corkan, R. H. (4 July 1950). "The Levels in the North Sea Associated with the Storm Disturbance of 8 January 1949". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 242 (853): 493–525. doi:10.1098/rsta.1950.0008.
  10. Pratt, Ian (1 February 1995). "The storm surge of 21 February 1993". Weather 50 (2): 42–48. doi:10.1002/j.1477-8696.1995.tb06075.x. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  11. Batson, Richard (10 October 2013). "Video: Walcott relief as high tide passes without major flooding". Eastern Daily Press 24. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
  12. "Communities urged to prepare for worst east coast tidal surge in 30 years". Environment Agency. 4 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  13. Lamb, H. H. (1988). Weather, Climate & Human Affairs: A Book of Essays and (Digitized online by Google books) (illustrated ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 187. ISBN 9780415006743. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
  14. Lamb, Hubert; Knud Frydendahl (2005). Historic Storms of the North Sea, British Isles and North-west Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-61931-9.
  15. Steers, J. A.; Stoddart, D. R.; Bayliss-Smith, T. P.; Spencer, T.; Durbidge, P. M. (July 1979). "The Storm Surge of 11 January 1978 on the East Coast of England". The Geographical Journal 145 (2): 192–205. doi:10.2307/634386. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
  16. "Partnership of Norfolk district councils strategic flood risk assessment" (PDF). South Norfolk Council. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  17. "SEA LEVEL STATION MONITORING FACILITY". UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  18. "Boston High Tide and Surge Tide Briefing". Environment Agency. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  19. Spencer, Thomas; Brooks, Susan M.; Möller, Iris; Evans, Ben R. (29 July 2014). "Where Local Matters: Impacts of a Major North Sea Storm Surge". Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union 95 (30): 269–270. doi:10.1002/2014EO300002.
  20. "6 December 2013: Severe weather - Northern Europe" (PDF). European Commission. 6 December 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2013.

Munich Re Historical storm surge events.

Literature

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, February 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.