AbstractA three‐dimensional numerical model is developed for the simulation of storm surges generated by tropical cyclones off the east coast of India. Experiments are performed using wind‐stress forcing data representative of the 1977 Andhra cyclone and the results are compared with earlier simulations using a depth‐averaged model. The three‐dimensional model incorporates a turbulence energy closure scheme and is fairly sophisticated in comparison with the depth‐averaged approach. Even with the apparently more refined treatment of the frictional processes, there is no substantial difference between simulations performed with the t