Major Coastal Storm for NJ Shore & Delaware Beaches
by Justin Drabick
The ingredients are coming together perfectly for an intense coastal storm this weekend. Low pressure will continue to develop along the Gulf Coast on Thursday, then track along the mid-Atlantic coast and intensify. Expect a mix of heavy snow and rain along with strong winds from Friday night through early Sunday morning. A coastal flood watch is in effect for late Friday night through Sunday morning.
TIMING - Expect all snow to arrive Friday evening along the coasts of DE & NJ. The snow will then change over to rain overnight and continue through Saturday afternoon, and then change back to snow Saturday night before ending. The northeast wind will begin to increase to 30-40 mph with gusts to 50 mph late Friday night, continuing through Saturday.
IMPACTS - Expect light to moderate snow accumulation, heavy rain, wind gusts to 50 mph. Coastal flooding will occur with the strong northeast winds, especially around high tide which occurs around 6:30 am and around 7 pm on Saturday along the oceanfront. Dangerous wave heights of 12 feet are possible, causing beach erosion. Power outages are also expected with the strong wind gusts.
AMOUNTS - 3-6" of snow is possible along the coast with over 1" of rain.
