Liao (2026) On the storm direction and peak floods in the continental United States, 1950–2024

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Hydrology
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-13
• Authors: Mochi Liao
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136029

Research Groups

• Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Short Summary

This study investigates the relationship between storm direction and flood peaks using real-world events and watersheds in the continental United States. The results show that storm directions are highly variable in space and time but align with topography and climate regimes.

Objective

• Investigate the impact of storm direction on flood peak magnitudes using real-world events and watersheds.
• Develop a new storm direction framework to analyze storm properties across the continental United States.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Continental United States (CONUS)
• Temporal Scale: 1950–2024

Methodology and Data

• Models used: ERA5-Land (ERA5L) and Analysis Of Record for Calibration (AORC)
• Data sources: Reanalysis datasets, satellite data, and surface measurement-based reanalysis

Main Results

• Storm directions are highly variable in space and time but align with topography and climate regimes.
• Storm travel distance is longer by a median of 35 km across watersheds when the storm comes from a preferential direction versus other directions.
• PPP does not show a global or regional bias depending on storm direction, but it varies significantly at smaller scales.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the relationship between storm direction and flood peak magnitudes using real-world events and watersheds.
• The developed storm direction framework can be applied to other regions and studies to investigate the impact of storm direction on flood peaks.

Funding

• This research was funded by [project name], [program name], and [reference code].

Citation

@article{Liao2026storm,
  author = {Liao, Mochi},
  title = {On the storm direction and peak floods in the continental United States, 1950–2024},
  journal = {Journal of Hydrology},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136029},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2026.136029}
}