Hurricane Maria is the strongest hurricane to hit Puerto Rico since 1928, with an estimated loss of $9 billion between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Hurricane Maria recorded unprecedented total rainfall, resulting in floods, mudslides and high-speed winds, causing damage to most of the island’s electricity and communications transmission systems. Meteorological data recorded in extreme events are critical to predict future events and prepare for damage control. Unfortunately, Hurricane Maria recorded limited data due to the first few hours of the storm.
Researchers at the City College of New York, led by Professor Jorge González, along with his colleagues, Dr. Rabindra Pokhrel, Salvador Del Cos, Juan Pablo Montoya Rincon and Equisha Glenn and Equisha Glenn in Weather Research and Prediction Tools ( The numerical weather forecasting system developed by Hurricane Maria National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) was simulated in the WRF modeling tool, compared the results of the model with limited observation records during Hurricane Maria and verified the results of the model. Original article published in the journal Research Extreme weather and climate.
Professor Gonzalez said: “Hurricane Maria is an outstanding storm with record mortality. The motivation for this study is to provide impact analysis before and during the event, especially on critical power infrastructure.”
Professor Gonzalez and colleagues have identified the hydropower process that occurred before and during this special event. The WRF model results are used to assess geospatial risk for power pole failures on the island.
A brief analysis of the conditions that led to the storm recorded that 2017 was the hottest year for sea surface temperatures in the world. Higher sea surface temperatures are accompanied by low vertical wind shearing, which helps hurricane formation and strengthen.
The team predicted that the comparable landing location and the amplitude of Hurricane Maria were predicted using WRF. The maximum wind speed simulated by the model is similar to that recorded by the ocean buoy during the hurricane. The simulation also predicts comparable total rainfall peaks in the center of the island by leveraging precipitation records and topographic effects in high-altitude areas at the height of the central mountain range. In addition, the simulated terrain changes increased by more than four times. The risk assessment of the island’s electric tower failure was conducted using wind speed and maximum rainfall data, which concluded that the risk of failure is higher in the north and center of the island.
The study successfully gained insight into events before Hurricane Maria. Recorded high sea surface temperatures and low vertical wind shears resulted in unparalleled precipitation and flooding caused by hurricanes. LED author Dr. Rabindra Pokhrel said to the characteristics of Science: “Proven meteorological variables can be further used for further impact assessments such as hydrological modeling (for flood risk) and resilience models (impact on critical infrastructure). Future Work will focus on generating reliable data sources for other hurricanes on the island and using data to impact critical infrastructure.”
Journal Reference:
Pokhrel, Rabindra, Salvador Del Cos, Juan Pablo Montoya Rincon, Equisha Glenn and Jorge E. González. “Observation and modeling of Hurricane Maria assessment.” Weather and Climate Extremes (2021): 100331. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wace.2021.100331
About the Author
Assistant Professor Rabindra Pokhrel
Kathmandu University Department of Environmental Science and Engineering Pobox 6250, Dhulikhel, Nepal. e-mail: [email protected]
Dr. Pokhrel received his PhD from City College in New York City (2021), and CCNY and Master’s (2009) received his PhD from Santa Clara University, California. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kathmandu University, Nepal (2003). Dr. Pokhrel has been teaching at Kathmandu University since 2011, focusing on alternative energy and more recently on environmental dynamics and urban planning. His PhD study has given him an understanding of Caribbean climate, extreme weather events, and especially urban energy sustainability. He developed tools to incorporate urban climate models to study the impact of building integrated technologies on mitigating peak energy use. The goal of Pokhrel’s career is to use modeling/observation data to understand, implement and promote measures to adapt to climate change.
Salvador del Cos is a graduate student at City College in New York who previously graduated from tecnológicoy de esuperes de Monterrey (ITESM), received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (2012) and a master’s degree ( 2017) (2017) (2017)) Energy Engineering. His master’s paper involves simplifying the design method of parabolic solar concentrators, and evaluating the resulting design, using soltrace to compete for the radiation intensity of the receiver tube. Since then, he has collaborated with the Coastal Environment Research Group (CUERG) to analyze climate data in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
Juan P. Montoya-Rincon ([email protected])
Juan P. Montoya-Rincon In 2018, he received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Eafit University in Medellin, Colombia. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from City College, New York City, New York City, USA. His research interests include extreme weather-related outage predictions for risk assessment using statistical models, grid elasticity analysis and transmission systems
Equisha Glenn It is the NOAA EPP Center for graduate research scholars at NOAA EPP Earth Systems Science and Remote Sensing Technology (CESSRST). She is pursuing her PhD in Civil Engineering (2021), focusing on water resources, climate and resilience. In addition, she has BS and MS for Earth Systems Science and Environmental Engineering. Throughout her academic and career, she has worked with local, urban and federal government agencies, including NASA, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (NYCDEP), and the Resilience Office of the City Mayor. Currently, she is working on several research projects related to climate. Her work with NOAA focuses on understanding the impact of climate change on water resources to adapt to floods and droughts in water management strategies. Additionally, her project at NASA focuses on analyzing extreme caloric conditions in Chicago and Durban (South Africa). Equisha is interested in bridging the gap between data, climate and policy to help build a more resilient future for cities and societies.
Professor Gonzalez is CCNY’s initiative to promote academic achievement in STEM (sipass), Chief Scientist of the Coastal Urban Environment Research Group (Kurg), and Presidential Professor of Mechanical Engineering, City College of New York City (CCNY). Professor Gonzalez received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering (1994) and a bachelor’s degree (1988) from Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Puerto Rico, respectively. He teaches and conducts research on urban energy sustainability, urban weather and climate, urban remote sensing, and regional climate modeling and analysis. Professor Gonzalez possesses several patents on solar equipment, aerosol detection and energy predictions for buildings, and has been recognized by the National Science Foundation and received a prestigious career award. He has written or co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, has delivered 100 conference speeches, and his research has attracted more than $40 million in external funding. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) and a former vice president of the American Meteorological Society Committee for the Urban Environment. He was appointed as a member of the New York City Climate Change Group by the city’s mayor in 2015 and was recently appointed as a senior visiting scientist at the Beijing Institute of Urban Meteorology and Brookhaven National Laboratory. He is ASME manual on integrated and sustainable building equipment and systems, And was appointed as the latest founding editor in 2019 ASME Journal of Sustainable Architecture and Urban Engineering.
