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Sudden sea level rise — tied to El Niño — is about to hit…

News Feed

Sep 14, 2026

This little-known ocean phenomenon has California forecasters concerned

KTLA 5 News
"I would encourage resource managers who are thinking about coastal flooding, coastal inundation, to take this seriously," said Dillon Amaya, an oceanographer at North Carolina State University.

Sep 12, 2026

El Niño-related wave headed to SoCal could bring dangerously high sea levels

ABC7 Los Angeles
Dillon Amaya, a researcher and professor at North Carolina State University, says that, along with elevated sea levels, the effects of the Kelvin wave will be long-lasting.

Sep 11, 2026

Orographic Quantitative Precipitation Forecast Sensitivity to the Choice of Microphysics Parameterization during a U.S. West Coast Atmospheric River Event

Weather and Forecasting
MEAS-affiliated authors: Sawyer Smith, Gary Lackmann, Jason Cordeira

Sep 10, 2026

Eye of the Storm

PBS-NC Sci NC
In this episode of Sci NC, learn more about how the Lackmann lab is transforming hurricane forecast models.

Sep 10, 2026

How El Niño could bring punishing conditions to the West Coast this winter

The Washington Post
Dillon Amaya, an assistant professor of marine science at North Carolina State University, said the combination of higher sea levels and the potential for stormier-than-usual weather this fall and winter could increase the risk of coastal flooding and beach erosion.

Sep 10, 2026

California coast braces for another battering as new El Niño-related wave emerges in Pacific

Los Angeles Times
Another El Niño-influenced phenomenon — a “coastally trapped Kelvin wave” — is moving up the coast of Mexico and will soon hit the U.S. West Coast. It is expected to increase the sea level off the California coast by another 6 inches or so, and its effects could last months, according to Dillon Amaya, an expert on coastally trapped waves and an assistant professor at North Carolina State University’s Department of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences.

Sep 9, 2026

An Activity-Based Inversion Framework for Estimating Sectoral Anthropogenic CO2 Emissions Using Multi-Pollutant Satellite Observations

Geophysical Research Letters
MEAS-affiliated author: Zhen Qu

Sep 9, 2026

Estuarine circulation and bay-shelf exchange under river and wave forcing in Batemans Bay, New South Wales, Australia

Ocean Modelling
MEAS-affiliated author: Felix Deng

Sep 9, 2026

Geomorphometry in GRASS

Developments in Soil Science
MEAS-affiliated author: Helena Mitasova

Sep 8, 2026

Sudden sea level rise — tied to El Niño — is about to hit the California coast

CNN
“Typically, we think of El Niño and its impact on precipitation, but some of the first indications that El Niño is really occurring are the arrival of these coastally trapped waves,” oceanographer Dillon Amaya said.