Rapid intensification restructures the upper tail of tropical-cyclone storm surge extremes (opens in new tab)

Rapid intensification (RI) of tropical cyclones (TCs) has emerged as a critical challenge for coastal risk assessment, yet its influence on storm surge extremes remains insufficiently quantified. This study investigates how RI, whether a storm experienced RI at any point during its lifetime, modifies storm surge risk across major ocean basins using TC best-track data and tide-gauge–based surge reconstructions spanning 45° S–45° N during 1980–2020. Results show that RI-related surge amplificat...