Coastal Flood and High Wind in New Jersey, November 7 to 8, 1997

A slow moving nor'easter caused strong winds, beach erosion and widespread, but minor, tidal flooding from mid-day on the 7th through the afternoon on the 8th. The low pressure system formed near Cape Hatteras on the morning of the 7th and moved slowly north as the surface low was captured by a closed low at higher levels of the atmosphere. On the morning of the 8th, it was located about 80 miles east of Wallops Island Virginia and on the morning of the 9th, it was near Cape May City. That morning a second low pressure system was located near Cape Cod Massachusetts and the two merged into one and was located just south of Nova Scotia by the morning of the 10th. The low came close enough to the New Jersey shore by the morning of the 9th to cause the onshore winds and consequently the tidal flooding to diminish.The several tide cycle pounding cause beach erosion along the New Jersey Coast and it became severe in a few locations. In Cape May County, in Sea Isle City, severe erosion occurred from 89th through 93rd Streets and the ocean came within 15 feet of the Tiburon Shores Condominiums. The surf removed dunes and steps in that area. In Ocean County, in Harvey Cedars, the pounding surf scoured a six foot cliff north of Bergen Avenue. In Brant Beach, waves crashed close to the dunes on 41st Street. In Monmouth County, the surf removed about 50 to 100 feet of beach in Manasquan and created a four foot cliff in Spring Lake. The persistent onshore flow raised tidal departures to 3.0 to 3.5 feet above normal and around 2.5 feet above normal at times of high tide from mid-day on the 7th (Friday) through the afternoon on the 8th (Saturday). This caused widespread, but minor, tidal flooding from the mid-day high tide on the 7th through the afternoon on the 8th. The highest tides reported were 6.6 feet above mean low water in Atlantic City, 6.9 feet above mean low water in Sandy Hook and 7.4 feet above mean low water in Cape May City. In Monmouth County, tidal flooding was reported along the Shrewsbury River in Rumson and Sea Bright. In Ocean County, in Beach Haven, minor tidal flooding occurred along Bay Avenue and minor flooding was also reported in Barnegat. In Atlantic County, in Absecon, the intersection of U.S. Route 9 and Shore Road were closed for several hours the evening of the 7th. Some bayside blocks in southern Atlantic City were flooded. In Cape May County, tidal flooding forced the closure of several blocks in Ocean City and Wildwood. Strong gusty winds buffeted the region from the morning of the 7th through the afternoon of the 8th. The strongest gusts were reported during the afternoon and evening of the 7th. Peak gusts included 59 mph in Williamstown (Gloucester County), 56 mph in Seaside Park and Harvey Cedars (both Ocean County), 47 mph at the Marina in Atlantic City, 45 mph in Belmar and 44 mph in Wildwood. In Ocean County, the strong winds caused power outages to about 5,000 homes in Stafford Township and ripped away beach fencing in Beach Haven. During the same storm, a ship reported a severe thunderstorm that produced wind gusts to 86 mph at 10 p.m. EST on the 8th about 100 nautical miles east of Cape May County.