San, S-C., Liu, Y., Weisberg, R. H., Xu, H., Qiao, K., Lae, J., Zheng, L., John, S., Murawski, S. A., Gilbert, S., Mitchum, G. T., Frazer, T. K. and Pe’eri, S. 2026. Ocean Modeling, 202. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2026.102734
Abstract: Hurricane Ian impacted the west Florida coastal ocean and adjacent estuarine waters as it moved northeastward across the broad West Florida Shelf from September 28 to 30, 2022. To investigate the role of wave–current interaction in storm surge simulation during this extreme weather event, we coupled the West Florida Coastal Ocean Model (WFCOM) with two surface wave modules: the Mellor–Donelan–Oey (MDO) wave model (MDO-Wave) and SWAVE. Incorporating wave–current interaction improved peak surge simulations, with wave set-up enhancing surge by up to 0.41 m – approximately 22 % of the peak surge height. However, this contribution exhibited pronounced spatial and temporal variability, with maximum enhancement occurring along the right-front quadrant of the storm track and improvements primarily evident during the peak storm period. Tide–surge interaction played a minimal role in modulating peak positive and negative storm surges, contributing <5 % to the water level changes during the peak surge period. Process-oriented experiments further revealed that while both MDO-Wave and SWAVE produced comparable offshore wave characteristics, they demonstrated notable differences in nearshore wave effects. MDO-Wave simulated approximately 57 % higher nearshore wave set-up than SWAVE, resulting in greater storm surges within coastal and estuarine areas. These findings highlight the importance of wave–current coupling for accurately modeling hurricane-induced storm surge.
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