Dynamic conditions occur in the coastal ocean during severe storms. Forecasting these conditions is challenging, and large-scale numerical models require significant computing power. In this paper, we describe a real-time modelling system (DUNEX-RT), developed in support of the DUring Nearshore Event eXperiment (DUNEX) in North Carolina, USA. The model is run with wave, current, and water level boundary conditions from larger-scale models, and provides 36-hour forecasts of significant wave height, depth-averaged velocity, and water levels every 6-hours using Delft3D-SWAN. Observations and forecasts run at different times are compared and communicated via an interactive website to verify model performance in real-time and to visualize uncertainty from changing inputs. Here, we evaluate model sensitivity to inputs from different atmospheric hindcasts and forecasts for Hurricane Dorian (2019). The real-time model had relatively low errors across the system, indicating that this novel approach can be applied to forecast other areas of the coastal ocean.

Headland sediment bypassing relates short-term physical forcing and long-term morphological response. The contributions from King et al., 2021 are a substantial step in understanding the complexities by using all three research approaches of field observations, process-based numerical modeling, and generalization with the development of an improved parametrization of headland sediment bypassing. This latest study adds to the growing body of knowledge around littoral cell boundaries, or as proposed in this commentary, littoral cell zones that recognize the importance of temporal variability and how this may influence shoreline position models. Anticipated climate change-induced evolution of the shoreline can be better understood with these additions.