Identification of highest magnitude coastal storm events over western Ireland on the basis of wind speed and duration thresholds

This paper presents a computer-based method for the analysis of the wind re cord from coastal weather stations to identify storm events based on wind s peed and duration thresholds. Various combinations of thresholds help ident ify two main storm signatures, i.e, peak-like and plateau-like profiles. Se ven further types of storm are defined according to their intensity. The da te of each event provided by the program is a key item in the analysis that allows for the establishment of storm catalogues at individual weather sta tions. Catalogues that identify particular storms produce information on th e varying local storm regime of the western Irish seaboard and provide inpu t to the understanding of the elimatology of the wider northeastern Atlanti c region. Copyright (C) 2001 Royal Meteorological Society.