A major winter storm that is bringing snow to the Mid Atlantic and New England region has begun to wind down over Stone Harbor and Cape May County.  Just before 3am on Friday, approximately 4-6 inches of snow has fallen throughout the Jersey Cape, including in Stone Harbor.  Motorists are advised to exercise caution while driving this morning.  A Winter Storm Warning and a Coastal Flood Advisory are both in effect for Stone Harbor until 1pm on Friday.

The National Weather Ser­vice has posted a Win­ter Storm Warn­ing and a Coastal Flood watch for Stone Harbor.  The Win­ter Storm Warn­ing is in effect from Thurs­day, Jan­u­ary 2nd at 6:00pm through Fri­day, Jan­u­ary 3rd at 1:00pm.  The Coastal Flood Watch is in effect through Fri­day after­noon. A major win­ter storm that will bring blizzard-like con­di­tions to New Eng­land will begin to move into our region Thurs­day after­noon.  Pre­cip­i­ta­tion is expected to start as rain but will quickly change to snow dur­ing the late evening and overnight hours into Fri­day morn­ing.  The cur­rent fore­cast is call­ing for between four and six inches of snow for Cape May County, includ­ing bar­rier island com­mu­ni­ties.  The Fri­day morn­ing com­mute is expected to be dif­fi­cult due to snow, very cold con­di­tions, and strong gusty winds. Most of the snow is expected overnight into Fri­day morning.

Com­pound­ing the weather sit­u­a­tion is a Coastal Flood Watch for our region that could bring minor to mod­er­ate flood­ing at time of high tide, espe­cially in flood prone areas of our com­mu­nity.  Motorists are advised to exer­cise cau­tion while dri­ving overnight and Fri­day morn­ing, espe­cially in areas prone to coastal flood­ing.  Please give your­self extra time for your morn­ing com­mute on Fri­day and never attempt to drive on any streets that are par­tially or com­pletely flooded.

Strong winds with gusts to 45mph and wind chill val­ues below zero are expected on Fri­day.  Now is a good time to bring inside any objects from out­side your prop­erty that may be sub­ject to high winds.

High tide at the Townsend’s Inlet Bridge between Avalon and Sea Isle City will occur Thurs­day at 8:43pm, and again Fri­day at 9:06am.  The Fri­day morn­ing high tide may result in minor to mod­er­ate flood­ing in flood prone areas.

Please con­tinue to mon­i­tor this web­site and local tra­di­tional media out­lets for updated infor­ma­tion regard­ing this win­ter storm.  If you have an emer­gency, please dial 9–1-1.  Here is the text of the Win­ter Storm Warn­ing and the Coastal Flood Watch posted Thurs­day after­noon by the National Weather Service:

State­ment as of 1:59 PM EST on Jan­u­ary 02, 2014

… Win­ter Storm Warn­ing in effect from 6 PM this evening to 1 PM EST Friday…

The National Weather Ser­vice in Mount Holly has issued a Win­ter Storm Warn­ing for snow and blow­ing snow… which is in effect from 6 PM this evening to 1 PM EST Fri­day. The Win­ter Weather Advi­sory is no longer in effect.

* Loca­tions… south­ern tip of New Jer­sey and much of the Del­marva area exclud­ing Tal­bot County Mary­land and Sus­sex County Delaware.

* Haz­ard types… snow along with areas of blow­ing and drift­ing snow.

* Snow accu­mu­la­tions… 4 to 6 inches.

* Tim­ing… pre­cip­i­ta­tion should start as rain or rain snow mix late this after­noon before chang­ing to snow this evening. The bulk of the snow is expected overnight into Fri­day morning.

* Impacts… travel will become haz­ardous tonight as snow begins to accu­mu­late and tem­per­a­tures plunge into the 20s. The snow late at night will be fluffy and as winds increase… blow­ing and drift­ing snow may add to the win­ter travel haz­ards. Car door locks may freeze locked if unat­tended out­doors tonight.

* Winds… north 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 40 mph.

* Tem­per­a­tures… lows by day­break Fri­day near 15 with wind chill just below zero.

* Vis­i­bil­i­ties… less than one half of a mile at times in snow later tonight.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

A Win­ter Storm Warn­ing means sig­nif­i­cant amounts of snow… sleet… and ice are expected or occur­ring. Strong winds are also pos­si­ble. This will make travel very haz­ardous or impossible.

Coastal Flood Watch

State­ment as of 9:41 AM EST on Jan­u­ary 02, 2014

… Coastal Flood Watch remains in effect from late tonight through Fri­day afternoon…

* loca­tion… coastal sec­tions of New Jer­sey from Rar­i­tan Bay… along the Ocean­side into Delaware Bay and coastal sec­tions of Kent and Sus­sex County in Delaware.

* Coastal flood­ing… the poten­tial exists for mod­er­ate tidal flood­ing espe­cially along north coastal New Jer­sey dur­ing the high tide cycle that occurs dur­ing Fri­day morning.

* Minor tidal flood­ing was occur­ring along the New Jer­sey coast with this morn­ings high tide cycle. The flood­ing for tomor­row morn­ing should see tides one half to 1 foot higher than the high­est val­ues that occurred this morning.

* Ocean sea state… this morn­ings wave heights are gen­er­ally 2 to 4 feet. Tomor­row morn­ing will be dif­fer­ent with an east­erly swell of 7 to 8 feet com­ing ashore caus­ing beach erosion.

* At Atlantic City… New Jer­sey… high tide occurs at 832 am EST Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of 6.5 to 7.0 feet above mean lower low water.

* At Cape May… New Jer­sey… on the ocean front high tide occurs at 906 am EST Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of 7.0 to 7.5 feet above mean lower low water.

* Impacts… the poten­tial exists for road­way flood­ing and pos­si­bly some minor prop­erty dam­age. In addi­tion any over wash has the strong like­li­hood of freez­ing as tem­per­a­tures will be and remain below freez­ing. Strong northerly winds gust­ing to 40 to 45 mph should occur. Beach ero­sion is also possible.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

A coastal Flood Watch means that con­di­tions are favor­able for the devel­op­ment of mod­er­ate or major coastal flood­ing. Pay close atten­tion to updated fore­casts and state­ments and take appro­pri­ate action to pro­tect life and prop­erty. Fol­low the rec­om­men­da­tions of local emer­gency man­age­ment officials.

The National Weather Ser­vice has posted both a Win­ter Weather Advi­sory and a Coastal Flood Watch for Stone Harbor for Thurs­day evening through Fri­day afternoon. A major win­ter storm that will crip­ple part of New Eng­land over the next 48 hours is expected to bring some rain, snow, strong winds, and the poten­tial for coastal flood­ing to our region. The storm will move in late Thurs­day into Thurs­day evening as rain, switch over to snow dur­ing the overnight hours, and end with light snow Fri­day morn­ing before sun­shine returns. The pre­dic­tion for snow­fall totals for our region is between 2–4 inches. Cold air will fol­low this storm with wind gusts approach­ing 45mph and wind chill val­ues on Fri­day at –4.

In addi­tion, a Coastal Flood watch is also posted for our region. There could be minor to mod­er­ate coastal flood­ing at time of high tide on Thurs­day evening, and again on Fri­day morn­ing. The Fri­day morn­ing com­mute is expected to be the most trou­ble­some with the poten­tial for flood­ing in flood prone areas with snow on the ground, and strong winds. High tide on Thurs­day evening will occur at the Townsend’s Inlet Bridge between Avalon and Sea Isle City at 8:43pm; high tide returns Fri­day morn­ing at 9:06am.

Please exer­cise cau­tion while dri­ving dur­ing this storm event. Please secure any out­door objects before sun­set on Thurs­day as they will be sub­ject to strong winds overnight into Fri­day. Inter­mit­tent power out­ages are pos­si­ble dur­ing this storm. If you have any emer­gency, please dial 9–1-1. Please con­tinue to pay atten­tion to tra­di­tional local media out­lets dur­ing this storm event.

Here is the text of the Win­ter Weather Advi­sory and the Coastal Flood Watch posted Thurs­day morn­ing by the National Weather Ser­vice:
Win­ter Weather Advi­sory
State­ment as of 3:32 AM EST on Jan­u­ary 02, 2014

… Win­ter Weather Advi­sory in effect from 6 PM this evening to
1 PM EST Friday…

The National Weather Ser­vice in Mount Holly has issued a Win­ter
Weather Advi­sory for snow and blow­ing snow, which is in effect
from 6 PM this evening to 1 PM EST Friday.

* Haz­ard types… snow along with areas of blow­ing and drift­ing snow.

* Accu­mu­la­tions… snow accu­mu­la­tion of 2 to 4 inches, with lesser
amounts in the far south and near the coast.

* Tim­ing… pre­cip­i­ta­tion should start as rain this after­noon
before chang­ing to snow or a rain-snow mix this evening. The
bulk of the snow is expected overnight into Fri­day morning.

* Impacts… travel should become haz­ardous tonight as snow begins
to accu­mu­late. This will be an increas­ingly fluffy snow and as
winds increase tonight… blow­ing and drift­ing snow will make
travel even more haz­ardous. Road plow­ing oper­a­tions will be
affected… espe­cially due to blow­ing and drift­ing snow.

* Winds… north 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph.

* Tem­per­a­tures… start­ing out rang­ing between the lower 30s to
lower 40s this after­noon, then falling into the 20s and teens
tonight. All areas should be in the teens by day­break Fri­day.
Where tem­per­a­tures start out well above freez­ing today, flash
freez­ing can occur tonight as tem­per­a­tures rapidly drop below
freez­ing and the snow increases.

* Vis­i­bil­i­ties… less than one half of a mile a times tonight.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

A Win­ter Weather Advi­sory means that peri­ods of snow… sleet… or
freez­ing rain will cause travel dif­fi­cul­ties. Be pre­pared for
slip­pery roads and lim­ited vis­i­bil­i­ties… and use cau­tion while
driving.

Coastal Flood Watch
State­ment as of 3:10 AM EST on Jan­u­ary 02, 2014

… Coastal Flood Watch remains in effect from late tonight
through Fri­day afternoon…

* loca­tion… coastal sec­tions of New Jer­sey from Rar­i­tan Bay…
along the Ocean­side into Delaware Bay and coastal sec­tions of
Kent and Sus­sex County in Delaware.

* Coastal flood­ing… the poten­tial exists for mod­er­ate tidal
flood­ing espe­cially along north coastal New Jer­sey dur­ing the
high tide cycle that occurs dur­ing the day on Fri­day. Some minor
tidal flood­ing could also occur with the high tide cycle this
morn­ing as astro­nom­i­cal Spring tides are occur­ring with the new
moon.

* At Sandy Hook, New Jer­sey, high tide occurs at 855 am EST Fri­day
with a fore­cast tide level of 7.5 to 8.0 feet above mean lower
low water.

* At Sea­side Heights, New Jer­sey, high tide occurs at 825 am EST
Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of near 7.5 feet above mean
lower low water.

* At Atlantic City, New Jer­sey, high tide occurs at 832 am EST
Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of 6.5 to 7.0 feet above mean
lower low water.

* At Cape May, New Jer­sey, on the ocean front high tide occurs at
906 am EST Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of 7.0 to 7.5 feet
above mean lower low water.

* At Break­wa­ter Har­bor, Delaware, high tide occurs at 949 am EST
Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of 6.5 to 7.0 feet above mean
lower low water.

* At Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, high tide occurs at 855 am EST
Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of 6.5 to 7.0 feet above mean
lower low water.

* Seas… 6 to 10 feet on the ocean and 2 to 5 feet on Delaware Bay.

* Impacts… the poten­tial exists for road­way flood­ing and pos­si­bly
some minor prop­erty dam­age. In addi­tion any over wash has the
strong like­li­hood of freez­ing as tem­per­a­tures will be and remain
below freez­ing. Strong northerly winds gust­ing to 40 to 45 mph
should occur. Beach ero­sion is also possible.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

A coastal Flood Watch means that con­di­tions are favor­able for the
devel­op­ment of mod­er­ate or major coastal flood­ing. Pay close
atten­tion to updated fore­casts and state­ments and take
appro­pri­ate action to pro­tect life and prop­erty. Fol­low the
rec­om­men­da­tions of local emer­gency man­age­ment officials.

The National Weather Ser­vice has posted a Coastal Flood Watch for the Jer­sey Shore for Thurs­day evening through Fri­day, Jan­u­ary 2nd-3rd, 2014 in advance of a win­ter storm that will impact our region.

A win­ter storm will approach our region from the south in advance of cold air. Rain will be wide­spread over our region by Thurs­day after­noon with an antic­i­pated changeover to a snow event Thurs­day night into Fri­day morn­ing. The Coastal Flood Watch means that the poten­tial exists for mod­er­ate tidal flood­ing espe­cially dur­ing time of high tide on Fri­day. Minor coastal flood­ing is pos­si­ble at time of high tide on Thurs­day. High tide at the Townsend’s Inlet Bridge between Avalon and Sea Isle City will occur Thurs­day at 8:43pm, and again on Fri­day at 9:06am. Never attempt to drive through any stand­ing water. Now would be a good time for you to secure any loose out­door objects on your prop­erty since strong winds are fore­cast for the end of this storm event on Friday.

The National Weather Ser­vice is fore­cast­ing rain to changeover to snow along the Jer­sey Cape on Thurs­day evening with a snow event overnight into Fri­day morn­ing. Mod­er­ate snow accu­mu­la­tions are possible.

Please con­tinue to mon­i­tor this web­site and tra­di­tional local media for weather updates over the next 72 hours. If you have an emer­gency, please dial 9–1-1.

Here is the text of the Coastal Flood Watch issued by the National Weather Ser­vice on Jan­u­ary 1, 2014:

Coastal Flood Watch in effect from late Thurs­day night through
Fri­day afternoon…

The National Weather Ser­vice in Mount Holly has issued a coastal
Flood Watch… which is in effect from late Thurs­day night through
Fri­day afternoon.

* Loca­tion… coastal sec­tions of New Jer­sey from Rar­i­tan Bay,
along the Ocean­side into Delaware Bay and coastal sec­tions of
Kent and Sus­sex County in Delaware.

* Coastal flood­ing… the poten­tial exists for mod­er­ate tidal
flood­ing espe­cially along north coastal New Jer­sey dur­ing the
high tide cycle on Fri­day day. Some minor tidal flood­ing could
also occur with the high tide cycle on Thurs­day morn­ing as
astro­nom­i­cal Spring tides are occur­ring with the new moon.

* At Sandy Hook, New Jer­sey high tide occurs at 855 am EST Fri­day
with a fore­cast tide level of 8.0 to 8.5 feet above mean lower
low water.

* At Sea­side Heights, New Jer­sey high tide occurs at 825 am EST
Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of near 7.5 feet above mean
lower low water.

* At Atlantic City, New Jer­sey high tide occurs at 832 am EST
Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of around 7.0 feet above mean
lower low water.

* At Cape May, New Jer­sey on the ocean front high tide occurs at
906 am EST Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of 7.5 to 8.0 feet
above mean lower low water.

* At Break­wa­ter Har­bor, Delaware high tide occurs at 949 am EST
Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of near 7.0 feet above mean
lower low water.

* At Rehoboth Beach, Delaware high tide occurs at 855 am EST
Fri­day with a fore­cast tide level of near 7.0 feet above mean
lower low water.

* Seas… 6 to 10 feet on the ocean and 2 to 5 feet on Delaware Bay.

* Impacts… the poten­tial exists for road­way flood­ing and pos­si­bly
some minor prop­erty dam­age. In addi­tion any over­wash has the
strong like­li­hood of freez­ing as tem­per­a­tures will be and remain
below freez­ing. Strong northerly winds gust­ing to 45 mph should
occur. Beach ero­sion is also possible.

Precautionary/preparedness actions…

A coastal Flood Watch means that con­di­tions are favor­able for the
devel­op­ment of mod­er­ate or major coastal flood­ing. Pay close
atten­tion to updated fore­casts and state­ments and take
appro­pri­ate action to pro­tect life and prop­erty. Fol­low the
rec­om­men­da­tions of local emer­gency man­age­ment officials.