Circulation on the New England Continental Shelf: Response to strong winter storms

Current and sea level observations made on the New England continental shelf during several winter storms show that these short intense wind events dominate the circulation over the shelf, and account for most of the observed net flow. The observations show that large westward mass transports along the shelf were produced by strong easterly winds, while westerly winds produced little along‐shore flow. Significant cross‐shelf and along‐shelf surface pressure gradients occur during the storms. A simple conceptual model is proposed to explain the observations.