Coastal Flood in New York, August 20 to 21, 1997

A low pressure system developed over the lower Midwest on Wednesday, August 20th. As it slowly intensified, it moved east-northeast across Pennsylvania, passing just south of Long Island during Thursday morning.East to southeast winds increased over the area during Wednesday evening. Sustained wind speeds reached 44 knots at the Ambrose Light Tower at 3 am on August 21st and 29 knots from 11 pm on August 20th through 4 am on the 21st at Bouy 44025 (about 20 miles south of Fire Island Inlet). Over land, wind speeds ranged from 15 to 25 mph with gusts over 30 mph.Strong east to southeast winds combined with astronomical high tides caused tidal piling that resulted in moderate coastal flooding across parts of coastal Long Island during two high tide cycles.During the first high tide Wednesday evening, parts of the town of Freeport were under 3 1/2 feet of water. Street flooding was also reported in Massapequa.During the second high tide Thursday morning, a stretch of Harbor Beach Road in Mount Sinai (north shore of Suffolk County), was submerged under at least 2 feet of water. About 50 people were stranded on the Cedar Beach peninsula for about 4 hours. Street flooding was reported in Port Jefferson. Coastal flooding was also reported across parts of the south shore of Suffolk County extending from Babylon east to Southampton.This storm also brought heavy rain to the area. Rainfall amounts generally ranged from 1 to 3 inches.