Nor'easter Threatens Hurricane-Force Gusts and Power Outages in New England

A full-blown nor'easter is gearing up to roar into the eastern U.S. this weekend, bringing destructive winds, heavy rain, and more. The impacts of the storm are already being felt along the coastline of the mid-Atlantic. Here is the latest on this monster of a storm event.

Coastal Flooding and Beach Erosion Sweeping Up the Atlantic Coastline

It was a messy day on Thursday along a stretch of coastline from North Carolina and up into New England. Pounding surf has triggered beach erosion as offshore winds shove the ocean water ashore. The timing of the storm with the full moon this weekend will raise tide levels further, creating widespread coastal flooding. The beach erosion is forecast to be the worst in a zone across Long Island, New York, and Massachusetts.

The pressure gradient between the high-pressure zone anchored over the interior Northeast and the low-pressure system coming together off the coast of the mid-Atlantic is being blamed for the winds that are sending the waters inland. Forecasters are predicting that the flooding risk will be the greatest around high tide through Friday evening for the mid-Atlantic.

Widespread water levels hitting 2 to 3 feet above the average tidal reading will be the story for much of the region. The hardest-hit locations will approach levels that are 6 feet over the monthly average. The communities of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, and Newport News, Virginia, will experience surge that lasts for hours.

Moving to the north, the zone from the Delmarva Peninsula to northern New Jersey should expect tides to come in at 1 to 2 feet above the average.