A numerical study was conducted to characterize the probability and intensity of storm surge hazards in Canada’s western Arctic. The utility of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis 5th Generation (ERA5) dataset to force numerical simulations of storm surges was explored. Fifty historical storm surge events that were captured on a tide gauge near Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, were simulated using a two-dimensional (depth-averaged) hydrodynamic model accounting for the influence of sea ice on air-sea momentum transfer. The extent of sea ice and the duration of the ice season has been reducing in the Arctic region, which may contribute to increasing risk from storm surge-driven hazards. Comparisons between winter storm events under present-day ice concentrations and future open-water scenarios revealed that the decline in ice cover has potential to result in storm surges that are up to three times higher. The numerical model was also used to hindcast a significant surge event that was not recorded by the tide gauge, but for which driftwood lines along the coast provided insights to the high-water marks. Compared to measurements at proximate meteorological stations, the ERA5 reanalysis dataset provided reasonable estimates of atmospheric pressure but did not accurately capture peak wind speeds during storm surge events. By adjusting the wind drag coefficients to compensate, reasonably accurate predictions of storm surges were attained for most of the simulated events. The extreme value probability distributions (i.e., return periods and values) of the storm surges were significantly altered when events absent from the tide gauge record were included in the frequency analysis, demonstrating the value of non-conventional data sources, such as driftwood line surveys, in supporting coastal hazard assessments in remote regions.

Despite the growing range and availability of resources to support coastal flood hazard model development, there is often a scarcity of data to support critical assessment of the performance of community-scale coastal inundation models. Even where long-term tide gauge measurements are available in close proximity to the study area, the records provide little insight into the spatial distribution and limits of overland flooding, or the influence of topographic features and structures on flooding pathways. We present methods to support the assessment of model performance using field observations in lieu of, or supplementary to, conventional water-level records. A high-resolution, numerical coastal flood hazard model was developed to simulate storm surge-driven flooding in the Acadian Peninsula region of New Brunswick, Canada. Owing to the remoteness of the study area from tide gauge stations, model performance was assessed based on a comparison with field measurements of deposited wrack and debris, as well as photographic and video evidence of coastal flooding, for two significant storm surge events in recent history. Our research findings illustrate the value of observational and qualitative data for characterizing coastal flood hazards, lending gravity to the importance of non-conventional data sources, particularly in data-scarce regions.