Longer swells create larger or bigger waves with more force and water to pound a beach.
Ocean City flooded at high tide this evening, not surprising that town always floods, but it didn’t last week. Those fart can cars are going to have an interesting weekend.
Long Neck road flooded at the old Malones area below Mariners Cove. The inland bays peak high tides hit at 9:30 PM and flooded in the lower areas more than they did this morning at high tide. Water stacking up in the bays, will stay in the bays and continue to flood more each high tide cycle. ” I needed the hip waders just to get to the docks in Angola. “ That area is on a creek almost protected from the wind, not the bay, tidal flooding is going to get worse as more water pushes into the inland bays. Expect the flooded areas of the inland bay communities to be worse the next few high tide cycles until the wind shifts south on Sunday.
The Indian river inlet at high tide was close to the jetty cap, with waves crashing over the sides. Water came onto the south access road. I would avoid that fenced area on the north side, just saying. Not much really holding those rocks up anymore. Expect route 1 to flood tomorrow in the late morning after 9:30 AM ish.
The difference between last week and this week is the longer period swells create larger waves, that have more water and force. Last week was 6 second swells, this week’s are predicted at 12 seconds with a larger wave height. Combined with the full moon tides and wind, water will push farther up the beaches. The inland bays will flood more each high tide. Sunday will be the best day, and it is looking like last Saturday. Below is last week’s Marine Forecast Followed by this week’s, notice the differences in swell
LAST THURSDAY …… Marine Forecast and it was a little worse than predicted Saturday.
Coastal waters from Cape May NJ to Cape Henlopen DE out 20 nm-
Coastal waters from Cape Henlopen to Fenwick Island DE out 20 nm-
626 AM EDT Thu Oct 3 2019
…SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT…
.TODAY…E winds 15 to 20 kt, diminishing to 10 to 15 kt late.
Gusts up to 25 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft. Swell mainly from the NE with
a dominant period of 14 seconds. A slight chance of showers.
.TONIGHT…SE winds around 10 kt, becoming W late. Seas 4 to
6 ft. Swell mainly from the E with a dominant period of
7 seconds. Areas of fog in the late evening and overnight.
.FRI…N winds 20 to 25 kt with gusts up to 30 kt. Seas 3 to
5 ft. Swell mainly from the N with a dominant period of
6 seconds. Areas of fog early in the morning.
.FRI NIGHT…NE winds 15 to 20 kt with gusts up to 25 kt. Seas
4 to 6 ft. Swell mainly from the NE with a dominant period of
6 seconds.
.SAT…NE winds 15 to 20 kt, becoming E 10 to 15 kt in the
afternoon. Gusts up to 25 kt. Seas 4 to 6 ft.
.SAT NIGHT…SE winds 10 to 15 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft.
.SUN…S winds around 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Seas 3 to
5 ft.
.SUN NIGHT…S winds around 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt. Seas
3 to 5 ft.
This Thursday (today) … Coastal waters from Cape May NJ to Cape Henlopen DE out 20 nm- Coastal waters from Cape Henlopen to Fenwick Island DE out 20 nm- 930 PM EDT Thu Oct 10 2019
…GALE WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH LATE FRIDAY NIGHT…
.OVERNIGHT…N winds 20 to 25 kt with gusts up to 40 kt. Seas
8 to 11 ft. Swell mainly from the NE with a dominant period of
12 seconds. A slight chance of showers.
.FRI…N winds 20 to 25 kt with gusts up to 35 kt. Seas 8 to
11 ft. Swell mainly from the NE with a dominant period of
12 seconds.
.FRI NIGHT…N winds 20 to 25 kt, diminishing to 15 to 20 kt in
the late evening and overnight. Gusts up to 30 kt. Seas 8 to
11 ft, subsiding to 6 to 9 ft late. Swell mainly from the NE with
a dominant period of 12 seconds.
.SAT…N winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt, becoming NW
5 to 10 kt in the afternoon. Seas 5 to 8 ft, subsiding to 4 to
6 ft late. Swell mainly from the NE with a dominant period of
11 seconds.
.SAT NIGHT…NW winds around 5 kt, increasing to 5 to 10 kt after
midnight. Seas 4 to 6 ft.
.SUN…N winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 3 to 5 ft.
.SUN NIGHT…S winds 5 to 10 kt, becoming SW after midnight. Seas
3 to 5 ft. A chance of showers.
When longer period swells are in deep water, they travel faster. When they hit the shallows water, the beach, they slow down faster and have much more of a ‘punch”. These waves are also thicker front to back, which means more water volume will shift from front to back. When the swell’s refraction hits the shallow water while part of the swell is still in deep water that is when you get some serious waves. That is the reason we have such a heavy and close shore break in Delaware. Beast sized waves right up against the beach, the neck breakers.
now all the surfers need are good westerly blow for some seriously big waves, but that isn’t likely this weekend.