Fig. 4: Frequency distributions of tropical cyclone winds leading to turbine yielding and buckling in selected US wind energy areas (WEAs).
From: Amplified threat of tropical cyclones to US offshore wind energy in a changing climate
WEAs are depicted for New York, North Carolina, and Texas, based on the 2023 Offshore Wind Market Report49. Distributions are derived from storms simulated under historical (1980–2014) and future (2066–2100) climates using data from nine CMIP6 climate models. Percentages are calculated as the average tropical cyclone track density within each 0.5° × 0.5° grid cell for each region, relative to all simulated landfalling tropical cyclones for each period. The legend provides the 50th percentile frequency percentages for yielding and buckling, respectively. Differences shown are significant at the 99% confidence level using two-tailed Student’s t-tests. WEAs are assigned to states based on existing power offtake contracts but may be reallocated; they are not depicted to scale.
