Nor’easter Update First High Tide Observations
Update 6:30 AM ….
Lewes ferry has been canceled today. Crossings Cancelled Monday January 23
Due to high winds and rough sea conditions from the storm, all departures for Monday January 23, 2017 are being cancelled.
Water on road in Oak Orchard at Chiefs road at the marina.
We have a coastal flood and wind advisory in effect until 9 PM, that is a given at this point. All night we have been listening to the wind howl a steady thirty plus miles per hour with gusts over forty miles per hour. As of 5:30 AM, which is roughly our first high tide at Indian River Inlet to Lewes. Water has reached the dunes in Bethany Beach and washed over the entire beach which is no surprise since they had little sand there to begin with and this is a typical nor’easter. Rehoboth beach has water almost to the dune line, it is being blown up there and pushed by waves. Washing across the beach, you can see where the waves hit or break on the shore break or ledge of sand then wash across the beach. The beach hasn’t washed out completely, but I am sure it has taken a pretty good hit. Which means it is doing its job of preventing a storm from washing out what little dunes they have there. The water washing onto the beach is being pushed south. There will be swales that will fill and drain on all of the beaches. I would expect parks will close or certainly discourage driving onto any beach today, which is not a smart idea anyway. We will check those for you later this morning, when the sun is up.
You can expect a longer than usual high tide with the winds pushing water into the coast line. Water is stacked up in the inland bays and the Delaware Bay according to the real time tide indicators it is around 6.2 feet in the Delaware Bay, which is two and a half feet higher than predicted normal high tide height. Waves right now are over six feet, almost to seven, according to the NOAA buoys off Bethany and Ocean City and rolling in at six seconds from the East North East. The marine forecast is expecting gusts of wind up to fifty five miles per hour and waves from ten to fifteen feet.
The inland bays will see some minor coastal flooding in all the usual spots. Oak Orchard always takes a hit during these nor’easters. Expect some water on the roads a couple of hours after high tide this morning and evening. You can expect the wind to keep a good amount of water stacked up in the inland bays today as well, making high tide this evening up to about 9 PM flood low lying areas. The winds are supposed to pick up later this morning with heavier gusts. I don’t think it will be significant flooding, but you never know with a nor’easter. Everyone is taking the usual precautions. We are used to these storms, and it is always a good idea to be prepared for the worst just in case. Hopefully you only have to deal with two high tide cycles, this morning’s and evening’s. We will keep you posted if anything gets really bad, or out of the ordinary, since this is pretty much an ordinary nor’easter. Stay safe and dry tomorrow is going to be windy and rainy as well, just not as bad as today.
Fish On!
Rich King
Indian River Tide chart ….
| Date | Day | Time | Hgt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bethany Beach NOAA Buoy (3:45 AM)
| Wave Height (WVHT): | 6.6 ft | |
 |
Dominant Wave Period (DPD): | 6 sec |
 |
Mean Wave Direction (MWD): | ENE ( 67 deg true ) |
Marine Forecast …
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- 412 AM EST MON JAN 23 2017 ...STORM WARNING IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON... .TODAY...E WINDS 30 TO 35 KT...BECOMING NE 25 TO 30 KT LATE. GUSTS UP TO 45 KT...INCREASING TO 55 KT LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. SEAS 10 TO 15 FT DOMINANT PERIOD 10 SECONDS. RAIN. .TONIGHT...N WINDS 20 TO 25 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 KT. SEAS 10 TO 15 FT...SUBSIDING TO 8 TO 11 FT. MAINLY IN NE SWELL WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 10 SECONDS. RAIN. .TUE...NW WINDS 20 TO 25 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 KT. SEAS 7 TO 10 FT...SUBSIDING TO 5 TO 8 FT EARLY IN THE AFTERNOON. MAINLY IN NE SWELL WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF RAIN IN THE MORNING. .TUE NIGHT...NW WINDS 20 TO 25 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 KT... DIMINISHING TO 10 TO 15 KT WITH GUSTS UP TO 20 KT. SEAS 5 TO 8 FT...SUBSIDING TO 4 TO 6 FT AFTER MIDNIGHT. MAINLY IN E SWELL WITH A DOMINANT PERIOD OF 10 SECONDS.
Coastal Flood Advisory
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 413 AM EST MON JAN 23 2017 ...AREAS OF MINOR COASTAL FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR HIGH TIDE THIS MORNING... ...WIDESPREAD MODERATE COASTAL FLOODING IS EXPECTED NEAR HIGH TIDE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG PORTIONS OF THE NEW JERSEY COAST... DEZ002>004-NJZ021-023-024-232215- /O.CON.KPHI.CF.Y.0001.000000T0000Z-170124T0200Z/ KENT-INLAND SUSSEX-DELAWARE BEACHES-CUMBERLAND-CAPE MAY- ATLANTIC COASTAL CAPE MAY- 413 AM EST MON JAN 23 2017 ...COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EST THIS EVENING... * LOCATION...COASTAL AREAS OF CAPE MAY COUNTY IN NEW JERSEY AND SUSSEX COUNTY IN DELAWARE...AS WELL AS AREAS ALONG THE DELAWARE BAY. * COASTAL FLOODING...POCKETS OF MINOR FLOODING WILL OCCUR WITH THE UPCOMING HIGH TIDE EARLY THIS MORNING. WIDESPREAD MINOR FLOODING IS EXPECTED WITH THE HIGH TIDE LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR LOCALIZED MODERATE COASTAL FLOODING LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. * TIMING...HIGH TIDE ON THE NEW JERSEY AND DELAWARE OCEANFRONT OCCURS THROUGH 4:30 AM THIS MORNING AND AGAIN BETWEEN 4:00 PM AND 5:00 PM THIS AFTERNOON. HIGH TIDE ON THE BACK BAYS AND ALONG DELAWARE BAY OCCURS LATER THAN THE HIGH TIDE ON THE OCEANFRONT. * SURGE...AROUND 1.5 TO 2 FEET ABOVE THE ASTRONOMICAL TIDE EARLY THIS MORNING. AROUND 3 TO 3.5 FEET ABOVE THE ASTRONOMICAL TIDE FROM LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON INTO MONDAY EVENING. * WAVES...WAVE HEIGHTS ON THE OCEAN WATERS OFF THE COAST ARE FORECAST TO BUILD TO 12 TO 16 FEET TODAY. WAVES ON DELAWARE BAY SHOULD INCREASE TO 3 TO 7 FEET. * IMPACTS...LOCALIZED ROADWAY FLOODING WILL OCCUR THIS MORNING. ADDITIONAL ROADWAYS ARE ANTICIPATED TO FLOOD FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. THE LATE DAY FLOODING MAY BE COMPOUNDED BY RAIN. ALSO...THE COMBINATION OF VERY STRONG ONSHORE WINDS AND BATTERING WAVES WILL LEAD TO SIGNIFICANT BEACH EROSION. * OUTLOOK...LINGERING MINOR TIDAL FLOODING MAY OCCUR AGAIN AROUND THE HIGH TIDE EARLY ON TUESDAY MORNING. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A COASTAL FLOOD ADVISORY MEANS THAT MINOR TIDAL FLOODING IS EXPECTED. MINOR TIDAL FLOODING OFTEN RESULTS IN SOME ROAD CLOSURES. USUALLY...THE MOST VULNERABLE ROADWAYS WILL FLOOD. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR VEHICLE AT A LOCATION THAT IS PRONE TO TIDAL FLOODING. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE THROUGH FLOOD WATERS. THE WATER MAY BE DEEPER THAN YOU THINK IT IS. YOU WILL BE PUTTING YOURSELF IN DANGER AND YOUR VEHICLE MAY BE DAMAGED...LEADING TO COSTLY REPAIRS.
Comments are closed.