Increasing hurricane wave power along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts

Although no clear trend in tropical cyclone (TC) generated wave height is observed, a TC wave power index (WPI) increases significantly in the Atlantic during the mid‐1990s, resulting largely from an increase in the frequency of middle‐to‐late season TCs. The WPI is related to TC strength, size, duration, and frequency and is highly correlated with the TC power dissipation index (PDI). Differences between the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico WPIs reflect systematic changes in TC genesis regions and subsequent tracks, characterized by their relationship with the regional circulation patterns described by the Atlantic Meridional Mode. The annual wave power at near‐coastal locations is closely associated with open ocean WPI. The close association of the WPI to hurricane activity implies that under rising sea level, significant coastal impacts will increase as the PDI increases, regardless of TC landfall frequency.