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Myth: The full moon caused a dramatic rise in Sandy's storm surge
The moon has a profound effect upon the world's oceans. Its gravitational tug pushes and pulls large bodies of water, and when the moon is full, it's also at a position in its monthly orbit to be at its strongest.
So it was unlucky, then, that Sandy made landfall during a full moon—when the sun, moon and Earth align to produce the strongest gravitational effect on the tides. This combined force, aka spring tide (which also occurs during a new moon) altered tidal patterns, making high tides higher and adding to an already deadly storm surge.
This isn't a myth, but it's also gotten quite a bit of unwarranted hype. The increase in water level was probably only a few centimeters—enough to make only a small difference compared with the magnitude of the tidal surge created by the storm. —Mollie Bloudoff-Indelicato
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6 Comments
Add Comment7. Readers love to click multiple times to read a single article.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisre: effect of "spring" tides on storm surges. The author states the effect probably would be only a few centimeters. I have observed several spring tides along the central NJ shore and the effect is more like 1 - 2 feet higher than on a week before or after a spring tide. The low tides during spring tides times are extreme also with large areas of wet sand being exposed that is normally covered other times. Another effect on storm surges that I have never seen mentioned is low barometric pressure. Think of "sucking" water up a straw. A drop in pressure of 10% would cause a rise of nearly a meter even if there were no other factors involved!
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Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this2. Georgevv...
Thank you for your comment. I thought maybe things are different on the east coast.
Here on the west coast spring tides have significantly greater swings in water movement. The difference can easily be seen by anyone who pays attention. A difference of a couple of inches wouldn't even be noticeable.
I do. I wish I could click every other word. It's so informative and entertaining.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIs Cumbre Veijo still being monitered?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisLet us hope that the volcano holds secure.
Best wishes,
Marg.
hanmeng: Just hit the print button and you'll see the whole article. No extra clicking necessary.
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