Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. http://doi.org/ndt (2013)

The frequency of extreme events seems to be increasing under climate change. They impact society and the environment, with large costs from loss of life, property and habitat. Storms, winds, and waves are particularly relevant for coastal communities.

Russell Vose of the National Climatic Data Center, USA, with the working group of the National Climate Assessment, summarize the state of scientific knowledge on extratropical storms, winds and waves, focusing on the coastal regions of the USA during the cold season. They look at observed changes, potential causes and available data, and then rank the strength of the evidence.

Extra-tropical storms have increased in both frequency and intensity since 1950, with a suggestion that storm activity is shifting offshore. The evidence for changes in winds over land is inconclusive; whereas winds over parts of the ocean seem to have been increasing since the early–mid 1980s. There is moderate evidence for the increase of extreme waves on the Pacific Coast since the 1950s, but that for other coastlines is inconclusive. Understanding of the physical causes of these changes is judged to be low to intermediate.