What is the difference between Storm Surge and Storm Tide?

 

Storm Surge:

The onshore rush of sea or lake water caused by the high wind and the low pressure centers associated with a landfalling hurricane or other intense storm. The amplitude of the storm surge at any given location is dependent upon the orientation of the coast line with the storm track, the intensity, size and speed of the storm, and the local bathymetry. In practice, storm surge is usually estimated by subtracting the normal or astronomical tide from the observed storm tide at tide stations (see Residual on QuickLook plots). This difference between observed storm tides and astronomical tide can have other components such as regional elevated mean sea levels in the Gulf of Mexico due to the Loop Current, elevated sea levels on the West Coast due to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), or local elevated sea levels due to river runoff in tidal rivers.

Storm Tide:

The maximum water level elevation measured by a water level station during storm events. Depending on location, the storm tide is the potential combination of storm surge, local astronomical tide, regional sea level variations and river runoff during storm events. Since wind generated waves ride on top of the storm surge (and are not included in the definition), the total instantaneous elevation may greatly exceed the predicted storm surge plus astronomical tide. It is potentially catastrophic, especially on low lying coasts with gently sloping offshore topography. NOAA measures storm tide elevations from a common reference datum of Mean Lower Low Water (MLLW) which is the U.S Nautical Chart Datum.