Flooding Closed Route 52 Causeway for Two Hours on Saturday Afternoon

Police reopened the route into Ninth Street after closing it for about two hours Saturday afternoon due to flooding in the city at the base of the bridge.

The outbound lane had remained open, according to Sgt. Fred Alford of the city police department.

Alford said the flooding at the base of the causeway was the main storm issue the city faced.

The rain, wind and tides were courtesy of a nor'easter pushing by the coast of New Jersey, according to coastal storm expert Jim Eberwine, a retired National Weather Service forecaster.

Eberwine said the height of the storm in terms of wind and tide peaked at mid-day Saturday, but wind speed should picked up in the afternoon. Eberwine also serves as an emergency management director in his hometown of Absecon and was monitoring conditions.

East winds of about 30 miles per hour Saturday morning were keeping the tide from draining, but the wind shifted to the north later in the day and picked up speed to over 50 miles per hour. Draining accelerated then, said Eberwine.

He expected only minor flooding at high tide Saturday night, with the wind shifted and rain slowed.

There is a slight chance of some snow around 3 a.m. Sunday, but no accumulation.

Sunday will be clear, but gusty with winds dropping intensity throughout the day and high temperatures in the upper 40s.

Coincidentally, tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of the Halloween Storm, which is better known as the Perfect Storm in New England, where it caused the most damage.

That storm was not a nor'easter, but an extratropical cyclone and eventually a rare North Atlantic hurricane. The storm is well-rememberd due to a book and movie, both titled The Perfect Storm, stories that chronicled the capsizing of a swordfishing boat.

While tides were higher and winds stronger for that storm when it struck New England than this nor'easter, the Halloween Storm as it was called locally, was not a huge weather event in New Jersey, recalled Eberwine.

However, that storm did damage portions of Ocean City's and Atlantic City's boardwalks and produce very high tides.

Saturday's storm brought sleet and snow to portions of the state to the west and north. Gov. Chris Christie declared a state of emergency as thousands we without power accross the state.

Atlantic City Electric had about 6,500 without power at mid-day, but by late afternoon only a few hundred customers were without power in scattered locations.

Ocean City largely appeared to have avoided powerline issues.