Lagrangian Drifter Laboratory at Scripps Institution of Oceanography Hurricane Michael (2018) First-Five Wave Data

An array of 10 surface drifters was deployed 24-hours ahead of Hurricane Michael and captured the surface temperature, pressure, wind and directional wind-sea and swell energy across the storm center one day before it made landfall on 10-Oct-2018 as a Category 5 Hurricane. There were 2 Surface Velocity Program – Barometer Drifters (SVPBD), 3 MiniMet drifters and 5 Directional Wave Spectra Drifters (DWSDs). Hurricane Michael encountered the array at roughly 15:00 UTC on 9 October 2018, with a minimum sea-level pressure recorded of 969 mB and extrapolated 10-m wind speeds of 26.1 m/s. Drifter directional wave spectra and drifter wind observations provide the shift of wave energy between frequency bands, and the transformation from swell to wind-sea in each quadrant of the storm. The observations are split into two datasets the first provides the sea surface temperature, pressure, wind, and averaged wave variables of peak period and significant wave height. The second provides the first-five coefficients of the directional wave spectra.