Atlantic basin hurricanes drive serious meteorological hazards for the southeast United States, including rainfall-induced freshwater flooding. The well-known Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS) communicates only wind hazard, creating the potential for low wind, high rainfall storms to be perceived as mild by the public due to misunderstandings of what the SSHWS communicates. Recently, researchers have emphasized the need to include rainfall hazard in hurricane warning messaging. In the interest of this goal, this research investigates the characterization of rainfall for three different Atlantic hurricanes: Hurricane Florence (2018), Hurricane Michael (2018), and Hurricane Ian (2022). Using daily gridded gauge-based rainfall data, the distribution of rainfall is quantified, visualized, and compared between each storm. Excessive Rainfall Outlooks issued in advance of each day of each hurricane are then compared with the actual extent of flash flooding, using statistical methods to verify the accuracy of each forecast. Finally, the impact of rainfall and social vulnerability on FEMA disaster declarations during high rainfall impact hurricanes is assessed. Results of this study will assist in validating hurricane rainfall hazard communications and support future work in improving how these warnings can better support citizens, governments, and other stakeholders.

Learn the fundamentals of the burgeoning field of knot theory while solving some puzzles along the way

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