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A powerful nor’easter is about to bring nasty weather to millions along the East Coast, with fierce winds, drenching rain and dangerous seas expected this weekend into early next week.
The storm will drive major coastal flooding and beach erosion alongside the heavy rain and potentially damaging wind. This disruptive weather will likely lead to travel headaches in the East and could be a nightmare for major airport hubs like Washington, DC, New York City and Boston.
The nor’easter is expected to develop just offshore along a stalled front draped over the Southeast on Saturday and spread hazardous weather along the coast from the Carolinas to the Northeast through the weekend.
A nor’easter is just a coastal storm named based on the direction from which its winds slam into the coast: northeast. Nor’easters are notorious snow producers in winter, but they can happen at any time of year, bringing heavy rain instead. They’re most frequent between September and April and usually develop between Georgia and New Jersey. The strongest nor’easters are also being supercharged by planet-warming fossil fuel pollution, a July study found.
This nor’easter looks to pack a punch, and the area from North Carolina through New Jersey and into coastal southern New England will bear the brunt of the storm’s disruptions.
A state of emergency will go into effect for New Jersey Saturday night ahead of the storm’s worst impacts, acting Gov. Tahesha Way announced Friday.
“I urge all New Jerseyans to exercise caution, monitor local weather forecasts and warnings, stay informed on evacuation protocols, and remain off the roads unless absolutely necessary,” Way said in a statement.
After developing Saturday somewhere off the coast between Florida and South Carolina, it will strengthen on Sunday while hugging coastal North Carolina.
Up to half a foot of rain could fall near the North Carolina coast, paired with gusty winds up to 50 mph. The nor’easter will also contribute to ongoing beach erosion in the state’s Outer Banks, where at least nine unoccupied homes have collapsed into the Atlantic since September 30 due to intense wave action and erosion from recent storms.
The disruptive weather will stretch farther north Sunday and Monday with several inches of rain possible along the rest of the mid-Atlantic coast and into southern New England. Any areas caught under multiple rounds of this drenching rain could see localized flash flooding.
Powerful winds will accompany this rain with prolonged gusts of 40 to 50 mph possible. Winds will start whipping up along the Southeast coast Friday, maxing out later Saturday into Sunday for much of the mid-Atlantic coast. Some of the strongest gusts for New Jersey and southern New England will occur Sunday into Monday and could reach 60 mph at times.
Power outages are possible as these strong winds batter coastal areas for days. They could also stretch further inland to more heavily populated areas.
A significant coastal flooding event will also unfold from the Outer Banks through the Northeast with tide levels this weekend just shy of their highest marks of the month. The combination of soaking rain and strong winds pushing water onshore will be potent: Dozens of coastal spots from North Carolina to New York are expected to reach moderate-to-major flood stage from this nor’easter.
In Delaware and New Jersey – particularly the southern part of the state – coastal flooding could get bad enough to cause some roads to become impassible and some structures to flood, according to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
Water levels could rise above 8 feet Atlantic City, New Jersey, – the highest level since Sandy in 2012 – and enter major flood stage on Sunday afternoon. That’s enough to trigger widespread flooding of roads in the area with some neighborhoods potentially becoming cut off due to the water, according to NOAA.
The nor’easter will also drive turbulent seas and generate rough surf that will make swimming dangerous for hundreds of miles of coastline.
After the storm moves away from the coast later Monday into Tuesday, the East could get a brief reprieve from the dreary weather. Then, yet another batch of unseasonable heat is expected to set in by late next week.