The SLOSH Display Program's (SDP) primary purpose is to display the results of the SLOSH model, which comes in two flavors. The first flavor is the MEOWs (Maximum Envelope of Water) and MOMs (Maximum Of MEOWs) which are generated as part of a SLOSH simulation study. The MEOW is generated by compositing several hypothetical SLOSH runs each of which has the same category, forward speed and direction (but different landfall locations). The compositing is done by setting each grid cell to the maximum value it attains during any of the runs. A MOM is similarly created by setting each grid cell to the maximum it attains in any of the MEOWs of the same category hurricane. The MEOWs and MOMs represent the potential storm surge for an area and are used as part of the National Hurricane Program's evacuation plans to help make evacuation decisions.
The other output flavor is the Historical SLOSH run, which are based on running SLOSH with the best historic estimates of track, intensity, and size for a storm. The Historical SLOSH runs come in two file formats: the Rex file, or the envelope file. The Rex file contains snapshots of surge elevations and wind information at fixed time intervals (usually 10-15 minutes). Additionally, the last frame of the Rex file consists of the maximum level each grid cell attained during the run. The envelope file is equivalent to the last frame of the Rex file. The intent of the Historical SLOSH run is to validate and improve the model; educate people about the timing of surge and winds; and educate people about historical storm surge levels.
The SDP was built for use by trained Emergency Managers, FEMA, and NWS forecasters. We encourage you to review either: the Training PDF or the Training PPT. For more on SLOSH, please go to the Public SLOSH page.