Overview of Bering/Chukchi Sea Wave States for Selected Severe Storms

Strong storms are regular features over the ocean west of Alaska. These systems often loiter,
generating moderate to severe marine states which can exhibit persistence, maximizing
damage and hazard potential. This analysis presents the wave states associated with selected
storms over the Bering and Chukchi Seas. These include the damaging events of October
2004, September 2005, and November 2009, along with a strong event from September 2011
that exhibited north winds. For each event a brief synoptic overview is presented followed by
consideration of the resultant wave state, including parameters such as wave steepness. Wave
data come from NOAA’s WAVEWATCH III operational global ocean wave model, implemented
locally on the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center at University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Comparison with observational data gathered by a wave buoy, funded by the US Environmental
Protection Agency/NOAA and deployed in 2011, is also undertaken.

阿拉斯加以西海域的强风暴是常态化的海洋天气现象。这类风暴系统往往持续滞留，引发中度至重度的海洋海况，且该海况可长时间维持，进而放大灾害破坏潜力。本分析聚焦白令海与楚科奇海海域内筛选出的多场风暴，对其伴随的海浪状态展开研究。本次涵盖的灾害性风暴事件包括2004年10月、2005年9月及2009年11月的三场风暴，以及2011年9月一场伴有强北风的强风暴过程。针对每场风暴，本文先简要介绍其天气学概况，随后分析其诱发的海浪状态，涵盖波陡等关键参数。海浪数据源自美国国家海洋和大气管理局（National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA）的WAVEWATCH III业务化全球海浪数值模式，该模式部署于阿拉斯加费尔班克斯大学北极区域超级计算中心。本研究同时将模式结果与2011年布放的海浪浮标观测数据进行对比，该浮标由美国环境保护署（United States Environmental Protection Agency, EPA）与NOAA联合资助。