Global climate change drives sea-level rise, increasing the frequency of coastal flooding. In most coastal regions, the amount of sea-level rise occurring over years to decades is significantly smaller than normal ocean-level fluctuations caused by tides, waves, and storm surge. However, even gradual sea-level rise can rapidly increase the frequency and severity of coastal flooding. So far, global-scale estimates of increased coastal flooding due to sea-level rise have not considered elevated water levels due to waves, and thus underestimate the potential impact.

In this contribution we identify storm time clustering in the Mediterranean Sea through a comprehensive analysis of the Allan factor. This parameter is evaluated from a long time series of wave height provided by oceanographic buoy measurements and hindcast reanalysis of the whole basin, spanning the period 1979–2014 and characterized by a horizontal resolution of about 0.1° in longitude and latitude and a temporal sampling of 1 h Mentaschi et al. (2015). The nature of the processes highlighted by the AF and the spatial distribution of the parameter are both investigated.

Coastal flooding in the Yucatan Peninsula is mainly associated with storm surge events triggered by high-pressure cold fronts systems passing through the Gulf of Mexico. To assess coastal flood hazards, this study uses a thirty-year water level hindcast, and considers the contribution of wave setup and the role of tidal hydrodynamics. To diagnose the mechanisms controlling the water levels, extreme sea level occurrence probability at Progreso Port was performed to identify the two worst storms in terms of maximum residual tide (Event A), and maximum water level (Event B).