*Article* **Contrasting Hydrodynamic Responses to Atmospheric Systems with Di**ff**erent Scales: Impact of Cold Fronts vs. That of a Hurricane**

#### **Wei Huang 1,\* and Chunyan Li 2**

1 Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, VA 23062, USA

 2020


**Abstract:** In this paper, subtidal responses of Barataria Bay to an atmospheric cold front in 2014 and Hurricane Barry of 2019 are studied. The cold fronts had shorter influencing periods (1 to 3 days), while Hurricane Barry had a much longer influencing period (about 1 week). Wind direction usually changes from southern quadrants to northern quadrants before and after a cold front's passage. For a hurricane making its landfall at the norther Gulf of Mexico coast, wind variation is dependent on the location relative to the location of landfall. Consequently, water level usually reaches a trough after the maximum cold front wind usually; while after the maximum wind during a hurricane, water level mostly has a surge, especially on the right-hand side of the hurricane. Water level variation induced by Hurricane Barry is about 3 times of that induced by a cold front event. Water volume flux also shows differences under these two weather types: the volume transport during Hurricane Barry was 4 times of that during a cold front. On the other hand, cold front events are much more frequent (30–40 times a year), and they lead to more frequent exchange between Barataria Bay and the coastal ocean.

**Keywords:** cold front; Hurricane Barry; numerical simulation; subtidal hydrodynamics; multi-inlet; volume flux
