Coastal response to the passage of tropical cyclone Juliette on the Central Pacific Coast of Mexico

Abstract

In situ coastal oceanographic and meteorological data were collected on the Mexican Tropical Pacific coast near Barra de Navidad, Jalisco, Mexico during September 2001 from before and after the passing of Hurricane Juliette. When the leading and trailing edges of the hurricane passed through the study area, wind speeds reached 15 m s-1 and caused a significant deepening of the thermocline, mixing of the upper 40 m of the water column, and a rise in sea level of almost 50 cm at the coast, with effects lasting for about 5 days. A decrease in temperature and an increase in salinity occurred in the upper 20 m, with the opposite occurring below 20 m. Although analyses of open ocean responses to hurricanes are widely available from satellite data, in situ coastal water-column and sea-level data are difficult to acquire, yet crucial to inform coastal flooding models and risk assessment studies. This short data set provides a rare opportunity to explore in situ hurricane effects on this understudied coast.