Tide‐surge interaction in the Gulf of Suez, Egypt

Abstract

A two‐dimensional, nonlinear, vertically integrated model for the Gulf of Suez, Egypt, was used to simulate the interaction between tides and the surge heights resulting from a 15 m/s storm blowing from the northwestern direction for 24 hours. The results show that the predominant surges as well as the envelope of the tide plus surge curve are all negative throughout the whole area of the Gulf of Suez and increasing northward. It was shown that, although in principle, the shallow Gulf of Suez can support and propagate positive storm surges, they do not occur, mainly because the winds from the prevailing weather systems are conducive to generate negative surges. Since the tidal range in the Gulf of Suez is small, even the combined water level from the surge and tide remains mostly negative.

Keywords:

• Egypt
• Gulf of Suez
• storm surges
• tides