Comparison of two typhoon-induced storm surges at the Zhanjiang Coast

Typhoon-induced storm surge is the largest threat to the Zhanjiang Coast of the northern South China Sea. In this study, we report on two processes of storm surges generated by Typhoons Rammasun (TR) and Kalmaegi (TK) with similar tracks at this region. Results show that the peak of the storm surge during TK (with a maximum value of 4.50 m) was significantly larger than that during TR (with the maximum value of 2.60 m), although the intensity of TK (Category 4 with 40 m s-1 maximum wind and 960 hPa central air pressure) was much weaker than that of TR (Category 6 with 60 m s-1 maximum wind and 910 hPa central air pressure). Comparisons of the typhoon properties and astronomic tides reveal that the peaks of storm surge were closely related to typhoon maximum wind radius, typhoon moving speed, and tide-surge interaction rather than typhoon intensity during the two cases, indicating complex dynamics of storm surge at the Zhanjiang Coast.