Three Days of Wind, Rain and Waves
Beach Erosion and Coastal Flooding Likely
This storm is bigger and badder than we thought. Weather watchers are calling it a historic or near-historic weather event. The last storms this big were in 1998 and 2003.
In Ocean City, Maryland, we’re looking at rain, northeast winds 35-45 mph, sometimes gusting as high as 55 or 60 mph, and heavy wave action all day Thursday and Friday. We’ve already had one full day of wind and rain and heavy surf on Wednesday. The worst of the storm in Maryland will likely be overnight Thursday through Friday afternoon.
The Weather Channel is predicting 10- to 15-foot waves at Ocean City Thursday morning, increasing to the 14- to 18-foot range on Friday morning. We could see some waves as high as 20 or 24 feet by Friday afternoon, in Ocean City and north as far as Atlantic City.
Significant beach erosion and coastal flooding are possible all along the mid-Atlantic, including Ocean City, MD. What makes this storm so potentially damaging is that it brings heavy waves, high winds and lots of rain, and the storm is moving very slowly, so the beaches will take a pounding for an extended period, about three full days.
Town workers have secured the heavy steel gates along Ocean City’s concrete sea wall, which protects the Boardwalk from 4th Street north to 27th Street. From 27th Street on north, Ocean City is protected by a system of sand dunes, quite substantial sand dunes along some parts of the beach. South of 4th Street to the Inlet jetty, the beach is wide, hopefully wide enough to protect the town from the ocean.
A low-pressure system off North Carolina is pushing against a high-pressure system way up north and causing this unusual storm, according to meteorologist James Wilson. The result is an on-shore flow of water, leading to coastal flooding and erosion.
The critical times for beach erosion and coastal flooding are at high tide, from two hours before high tide to two hours after. Water is predicted to be three to five feet above normal high tide in Ocean City. Our next high tide in Ocean City is 3:15 a.m. Thursday, and the afternoon high tide will be about 3:45 p.m. Thursday. On Friday, high tides in Ocean City will be at about 4:14 a.m and 4:35 p.m.
Many areas of the South had record rainfalls for Wednesday, Nov. 10. As the storm moves north, more rain records will be set Thursday, especially in Virginia, and very possibly in Maryland.
This storm, which developed out of the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida, hit Georgia, and the Carolinas hardest on Wednesday. Wednesday night, the heaviest rain and wave action was moving into the Virginia Beach area.
As strong as the storm is expected to be along the Maryland coast, it’s probably going to be worse in Virginia. Virginia Beach is expected to get the heaviest total rainfall on the East Coast, and flooding is possible in Hampton Roads and Norfolk.
The storm will probably continue into Saturday in Ocean City, with rain tapering off and possibly some sunshine by Saturday afternoon. However, the heavy waves will continue to hit the beach for at least 24 hours after the worst of the storm has passed.
RSS - Posts
1 Comment
November 13, 2009 at 10:30 pm
The storm may give Ocean City the opportunity to correct the major flaws of past beach restorations.. The rebuilding of the beaches has caused a serious saftey problem for swimmers,surfers and folks wading along the shore. The interigry of the shoreline has changed drastically causing waves slamming on the beach , more rip tides,stronger currents causing death and injury. Its a disgrace that the beach is no longer a wonderful place to go swimming .This needs to be corrected,now is time to do it. Who has responsability for this?