The severe weather group studies the effects of both extratropical and tropical weather on our urban environment. The nature of urban centers amplifies damage by wind, fresh and salt waters. Recent studies have described the damage created by the 2011 Queens Tornado (Figure 1) and Hurricane Irene ( 2011). We are working on determining criteria to establish the highest surge levels in storms (Figure 2). An important aspect of our studies includes examination of the effects of historic severe weather events in the New York Metropolitan Region (Figure 3) to provide an idea of what may happen in the future.
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Figure 1:
Map of the Queens Tornado Swarm. Photos show types of damage associated with the storm. |
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Figure 2:
Determining the levels of storm surge based on stranded debris. |
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Figure 3:
Vibrocoring on the Long Island continental Shelf. The coarse layers in the cores are believed to be storm layers (tempestites) from prehistoric hurricanes. |
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