The effect of two types of open sea boundary conditions (viz. the zero surge condition and the radiation condition) on surge histories in ocean shelf regions with constant depth and linearly varying depth subjected to uniform atmospheric forcing is examined. Results show that the frequently observed high surges along the east coast of India can only be explained by the two-dimensional surge simulation model with the zero surge condition along the open sea boundary. This model is also observed to be capable of predicting the resurgence phenomenon, i.e. the oscillation of shelf waters after the passage of storms. © 1989.