Storm Surge in New Jersey, May 23 to 27, 2005

Name: Storm Surge in New Jersey, May 23 to 27, 2005
Start: 2005-05-23T18:00
End: 2005-05-27T01:00
Location: New Jersey

May 23 to 27, 2005 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.

The combination of a persistent onshore flow and spring tides associated with the departing perigean full moon caused minor tidal flooding during the evening high tides on the 23rd, 24th and 26th. Widespread minor with locally moderate tidal flooding occurred with the evening high tide on the 25th. In addition, the onshore flow caused a pounding surf with mainly minor beach erosion just before the start of the Memorial Day Weekend. The worst erosion occurred along Long Beach Island in Ocean County and parts of Cape May County.In Monmouth County, Allenhurst Beach suffered a significant beach loss at Spire Avenue. In Ocean County on Long Beach Island, three to four foot vertical drops occurred from Loveladies southward. Vertical drops reached up to five feet in Brant Beach. The surf made a 10 by 20 foot wide and 1000 foot long cut in the dune from 43rd through 53rd Streets. In Beach Haven, emergency repairs were needed after water reached up to houses at Leeward and Merivale Avenues. The water was also within twenty-five feet of homes on 85th and 86th Streets in Long Beach Township. In Cape May County, the surf created a 5 to 10 foot vertical cut into a dune from Seaspray to Beach Road in Ocean City. A 3 to 4 foot vertical cut to the beach occurred from Beach Road to 11th Avenue. In North Wildwood, a 3 to 4 foot vertical cut in the beach occurred. On the Delaware Bay side of Cape May County, tidal flooding reached the roads at Reeds Beach. The highest tides occurred with the evening high tide on the 25th and included 7.77 feet above mean lower low water in Cape May (Cape May County), 7.41 feet above mean lower low water at Sandy Hook (Monmouth County) and 7.00 feet above mean lower low water at Atlantic City (Atlantic County). Moderate tidal flooding begins at 7.7 feet above mean lower low water and minor tidal flooding begins at 6.7 feet above mean lower low water. The higher than normal tides were caused by a persistent northeast flow as a blocking pattern occurred in the western Atlantic Ocean. A low pressure system in the Ohio Valley during the morning of the 23rd moved east and reached the Atlantic Ocean east of Delaware and New Jersey on the 24th. This low pressure system was captured by a closed low at higher levels of the atmosphere and remained over the nearby offshore waters through the 26th. A high pressure system over southeastern Canada helped enhanced the northeast flow from the 24th through the 26th. The whole low pressure system then started to drift east on the 26th and was east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts by the morning of the 27th.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 23, 3:00 PM EST, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 3:00 PM EST, 3 hours before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 23, 4:00 AM EST, 14 hours before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 23, 2:40 PM EST, 3 hours 20 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 storm surge/tide. Local standard time, as filed.

Storm Surge/Tide, Eastern Atlantic

When: May 23, 6:00 PM EST to May 27, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Atlantic forecast zone
Reported by: COASTAL OBSERVING STATION
Coordinates: 39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm Surge/Tide, Eastern Cape May

When: May 23, 6:00 PM EST to May 27, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Cape May forecast zone
Reported by: COASTAL OBSERVING STATION
Coordinates: 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm Surge/Tide, Eastern Monmouth

When: May 23, 6:00 PM EST to May 27, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by: COASTAL OBSERVING STATION
Coordinates: 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm Surge/Tide, Eastern Ocean

When: May 23, 6:00 PM EST to May 27, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Ocean forecast zone
Reported by: COASTAL OBSERVING STATION
Coordinates: 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Storm Surge/Tide, Western Cape May

When: May 23, 6:00 PM EST to May 27, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Western Cape May forecast zone
Reported by: COASTAL OBSERVING STATION
Coordinates: 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Storm Surge/Tide: Water pushed ashore above the normal tide by a storm’s winds and low pressure.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Jersey in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, May 2005 The 2005 hurricane season

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5449528, 5449529, 5449530, 5449531, 5449532.