Winter storm Jonas brings record coastal flooding to New Jersey and Delaware

By Andrew Freedman and Megan Specia
23 January 2016 (Mashable) – This blizzard has another hazard besides the snow, sleet and strong winds its bringing to the East Coast: flooding. The storm is pounding the New Jersey and Delaware shorelines with 22-foot waves and a 3 to 5-foot storm surge that sent water levels to all-time highs in some locations on Saturday morning. As the snow came down hard and fast, areas were already experiencing coastal flooding around the time of high tide in the early hours of Saturday morning. Some residents along the coast described the strong winds outside as sounding like a freight train passing outside their windows. A wind gust to hurricane force, or 75 miles per hour, was recorded in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware, where waves higher than 20 feet and a high astronomical high tide raised water levels to near record heights. The storm brought Cape May, New Jersey’s all-time highest coastal flood on record — beating its tide levels seen during Hurricane Sandy and the Ash Wednesday storm of 1962 — according to meteorologist Gary Szatkowski of the National Weather Service. […] Long-term sea level rise of about a foot during the past century in this area has primed the area for more frequent and severe coastal flooding, making it easier for storms like this one to enter the record books. [more]

Blizzard brings record coastal flooding to New Jersey and Delaware