Astronomical Low Tide in New Jersey, December 11 to 12, 2009

Name: Astronomical Low Tide in New Jersey, December 11 to 12, 2009
Start: 2009-12-11T20:00
End: 2009-12-12T01:00
Location: New Jersey

December 11 to 12, 2009 · NWS PHI · 8 events in 8 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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: 8

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.

Two days of persistent strong westerly offshore flow resulted in blow out tides during the evening low tide on the 11th along the Atlantic Coast and the overnight low tide in Delaware Bay and the lower Delaware River. The low tide reached 2.11 feet below mean lower low water in Sandy Hook (Monmouth County), 2.53 feet feet below mean lower low water at Barnegat Light (Ocean County), 2.19 feet feet below mean lower low water in Avalon (Cape May County), 1.84 feet feet below mean lower low water in Stone Harbor (Cape May County), 2.26 feet below mean lower low water in Cape May (Cape May County) and 1.86 feet below mean lower low water at Reedy Island (New Castle County, Delaware). Low water problems with blowout tides start at 1.8 feet below mean lower low water.

The blow out tides were caused by the persistent westerly wind flow between a low pressure system over eastern Canada and a high pressure system over the southern United States. As the high pressure system neared the region on the 12th, winds diminished and tides returned to closer to normal levels.

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 Dec 11, 7:40 PM EST, 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 11, 7:40 PM EST, 20 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 11, 6:58 PM EST, 1 hour 2 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 11, 3:52 PM EST, 4 hours 8 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
352 PM EST FRI DEC 11 2009

DEZ001-NJZ016>018-PAZ070-071-121100-
NEW CASTLE-SALEM-GLOUCESTER-CAMDEN-DELAWARE-PHILADELPHIA-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...WILMINGTON...PENNSVILLE...GLASSBORO...
CAMDEN...CHERRY HILL...MEDIA...PHILADELPHIA
352 PM EST FRI DEC 11 2009

...LOW WATER ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM EST SATURDAY FOR THE
TIDAL SECTIONS OF THE DELAWARE RIVER AS FAR NORTH AS
PHILADELPHIA...

A COLD HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO BUILD OVER THE MID
ATLANTIC REGION FROM THE WEST AND WILL MAINTAIN STRONG OFFSHORE
WINDS INTO TONIGHT. THESE WINDS WILL CAUSE WATER LEVELS TO DROP TO
BLOWOUT OR NEAR BLOWOUT CRITERIA AT THE TIME OF LOW TIDES DURING
THE LATE OVERNIGHT HOURS AND POSSIBLY AGAIN LATE SATURDAY
AFTERNOON ON THE TIDAL SECTIONS OF THE DELAWARE RIVER AS FAR NORTH
AS PHILADELPHIA.

THE TIMES OF LOW TIDE ON THE DELAWARE RIVER OCCUR BETWEEN 3:00 AM
AND 5:00 AM SATURDAY MORNING AND AGAIN SATURDAY AFTERNOON BETWEEN
3:00 PM AND 5:00 PM.

A LOW WATER ADVISORY MEANS WATER LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO BE
SIGNIFICANTLY BELOW AVERAGE. MARINERS SHOULD USE EXTREME CAUTION
AND TRANSIT AT THE SLOWEST SAFE NAVIGABLE SPEED TO MINIMIZE
IMPACT.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 astronomical low tide. Local standard time, as filed.

Astronomical Low Tide, Eastern Ocean

When: December 11, 8:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Ocean forecast zone
Reported by: C-MAN Station
Coordinates: 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Astronomical Low Tide, Eastern Atlantic

When: December 11, 8:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Atlantic forecast zone
Reported by: C-MAN Station
Coordinates: 39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Astronomical Low Tide, Eastern Cape May

When: December 11, 8:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Cape May forecast zone
Reported by: C-MAN Station
Coordinates: 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Astronomical Low Tide, Western Monmouth

When: December 11, 9:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Western Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by: C-MAN Station
Coordinates: 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Astronomical Low Tide, Eastern Monmouth

When: December 11, 9:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by: C-MAN Station
Coordinates: 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Astronomical Low Tide, Western Cape May

When: December 11, 9:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Western Cape May forecast zone
Reported by: C-MAN Station
Coordinates: 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Astronomical Low Tide, Cumberland

When: December 11, 10:00 PM EST to December 12, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Cumberland forecast zone
Reported by: C-MAN Station
Coordinates: 39.328, -75.129 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Astronomical Low Tide, Salem

When: December 11, 11:00 PM EST to December 12, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Salem forecast zone
Reported by: C-MAN Station
Coordinates: 39.577, -75.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Astronomical Low Tide: Unusually low water from tides and offshore wind that caused impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Jersey in 2009 Every state in 2009 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, December 2009

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 202924, 202925, 202926, 202922, 202923, 202927, 202928, 202929.