Extreme wave events in Ireland: 2012 - 2016

Abstract

This paper aims to extend and update the survey of extreme wave events in Ireland that was previously carried out by O’Brien et al. (2013). The original catalogue highlighted the frequency of such events dating back as far as the turn of the last ice age through to 2012. Ireland’s marine territory extends far beyond its coastline and is one of the largest seabed territories in Europe. It is therefore not surprising that extreme waves have continued to occur regularly since 2012, particularly considering the severity of weather during the winters of 2013-14 and 2015-16. In addition, a large number of storm surges have been identified since the publication of the original catalogue. This paper updates the O’Brien et al. (2013) catalogue to include events up to the end of 2016. Storm surges are included as a new category and events are categorised into long waves (tsunamis and storm surges) and short waves (storm and rogue waves). New results prior to 2012 are also included and some of the events previously documented are reclassified. Important questions regarding public safety, services and the influence of climate change are also highlighted.

Review Status: 27 Jul 2017 This discussion paper is a preprint. A revision of this manuscript was accepted for the journal Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS) and is expected to appear here in due course [https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci-discuss.net/nhess-2017-206/]