Physical aspects of extreme storm surges and falls on the Polish coast

Abstract

Extreme sea levels – storm-generated surges and falls - on the Polish coast are usually the effects of three components: the volume of water in the southern Baltic (the initial level preceding a given extreme situation), the action of tangential wind stresses in the area (wind directions: whether shore- or seaward; wind velocities; and wind action duration), and the sea surface deformation produced by deep, mesoscale baric lows moving rapidly over the southern and central Baltic that generate the so-called baric wave. Among these factors, the baric wave is particularly important for, i.e. the water cushion underneath the baric depression, moving along the actual atmospheric pressure system over the sea surface.

Keywords

• Polish coast
• Extreme sea levels
• Storm surges
• Storm falls