Coastal Services Center

---

Pacific Northwest

---

Observing and Predicting Storms

Helping scientists improve prediction capabilities has to be a top priority of any hazard mitigation strategy.  During the Coastal Storms Program focus in the Pacific Northwest, the team strived to bring new tools and data to help hazard observation and prediction in the coastal regions of Oregon and Washington.

Improved Oceanographic and Meteorological Observations
An increasing coastal population means that a growing number of people are at risk during coastal storms. To accurately forecast storm-related impacts and warn vulnerable populations, marine forecasters and coastal managers need real-time access to reliable and standardized oceanographic and meteorological observations.

Improved Prediction of Coastal Waves
The Pacific Northwest experiences some of the most severe weather in the country. Notable among these threats are battering waves affecting the nearshore region and coastal river bars. The Columbia River Bar is one of the most dangerous navigation hazards in the United States. Through the Coastal Storms Program, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS) developed a high-resolution wave model for the Columbia River and the nearby coastal waters of Washington , Oregon , and Northern California.  Successful demonstration of the SWAN model has supported an ongoing effort to  deploy the model at all NWS coastal Weather Forecast Offices in the Western Region and a few on the East Coast.  The SWAN model provides guidance to NWS forecasters to address locally specific issues in the nearshore (i.e. river bars, harbor entrances, rip currents, and coastal erosion).