Nor'easter Brings Coastal Flood Threat to East Coast

Storm Overview

An early fall nor'easter is gathering strength along the central East Coast, pounding beaches in several states with heavy surf and threatening to bring coastal flooding, wind, and rain to parts of the Northeast through the weekend.

Impact Areas and Timing

The nor'easter, named for the direction its punishing winds come from, currently sits several hundred miles off the Mid-Atlantic coast and will begin to track north and strengthen over the next two days. Coastal flooding and hammering winds are already underway from North Carolina and Virginia to New Jersey, with the start of a dayslong coastal flood and erosion threat that will extend into New England as the storm ramps up.

The storm could affect parts of the Northeast into Sunday or Monday. It’ll likely be past its peak, but coastal portions of New England and Long Island will likely encounter the strongest winds, with gusts over 40 mph possible. A high wind watch is in effect for coastal Massachusetts and Rhode Island, where wind gusts could reach 50 mph.

Regional Impacts

Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, are a couple of the cities where wet and windy conditions will ramp up by Friday night or Saturday morning. New York City looks to be on the storm’s western edge, outside of its most intense conditions but close enough to see showers and breezy conditions by Saturday night.

The wind will also rough up seas considerably and cause some beach erosion and coastal flooding at high tide Friday into Saturday. Rain could also cause some flooding on roads in southeastern New England. Portions of eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island could see 2 to 4 inches of rain this weekend, with the hardest hit areas seeing up to 5 inches.