Abnormal storm waves in the winter East/Japan Sea: generation process and hindcasting using an atmosphere-wind wave modelling system

Abstract

Abstract. Abnormal storm waves cause coastal disasters along the coasts of Korean Peninsula and Japan in the East/Japan Sea (EJS) in winter, arising due to developed low pressures during the East Asia winter monsoon. The generation of these abnormal storm waves during rough sea states were studied and hindcast using an atmosphere-wave coupled modelling system. Wind waves and swell due to developed low pressures were found to be the main components of abnormal storm waves. The meteorological conditions that generate these waves are classified into three patterns based on past literature that describes historical events as well as on numerical modelling. In hindcasting the abnormal storm waves, a bogussing scheme originally designed to simulate a tropical storm in a mesoscale meteorological model was introduced into the modelling system to enhance the resolution of developed low pressures. The modelling results with a bogussing scheme showed improvements in terms of resolved low pressure, surface wind field, and wave characteristics obtained with the wind field as an input.

Evaluation of WAVEWATCH III performance with wind input and dissipation source terms using wave buoy measurements for October 2006 along the east Korean coast in the East Sea

“…It slows down the low pressure system in the ES, blowing strong counterclockwise winds for an extended period (long duration). According to Lee et al (2010), most past events fall into the first and second patterns and there are many casualties reported along the east coast of Korea due to leisure activities in clear local weather conditions.…”

“…In Dorman et al (2004), the mean weather state over the ES, modified by alternating highs and lows, is characterized by four types: (A) the dominant flow of cold Asian air towards the southeast over the ES; (B) passage of a weak low towards the northeast over the southern ES with an outbreak of cold-air in a southerly direction on the backside of the low; (C) passage of a moderate low towards the northeast along the northwestern side of the ES; and (D) an occasional very cold Siberian air outbreak towards the south and southwest. With respect to abnormal storm waves in the ES in the winter, Lee et al (2010Lee et al ( , 2008 give a comprehensive overview based on a literature review and numerical simulations, and Lee and Yamashita (2011) categorize the movements of strong developed lows (e.g., winter storms or extra-tropical cyclones) into three patterns ( Fig. 1):…”

Storm surges along the Tottori coasts following a typhoon

“…However, parametric models are difficult to reproduce downgraded extratropical cyclones above 401N in the SJES despite of their improvement and advance. Recently, meteorological circulation models for typhoon wind and pressure fields have been used to reproduce the deformation of typhoon structure and to predict extreme waves and surges (e.g., Lee et al, 2010;Mase et al, 2008).…”

Explosive Cyclogenesis around the Korean Peninsula in May 2016 from a Potential Vorticity Perspective: Case Study and Numerical Simulations

“…Explosive cyclones are extratropical cyclones characterized by a strong deepening (a sea level pressure decrease larger than 24 hPa within 24 h at 60 • N or the equivalent [1]) and are often linked not only to extreme weather conditions, including strong winds and heavy rainfall, but also to extreme ocean events such as abnormally high waves [2] and, in some cases, storm surge. Sanders and Gyakum [1] first conducted a study on explosive cyclones in 1980 and demonstrated the importance of the baroclinic instability to this phenomenon; since then, many researchers have identified the development mechanisms of explosive cyclones, including physical and dynamical processes [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10].…”