Worst of Nor'easter Yet to Come in Ocean City

High tide passed at about noon Wednesday, and Ocean City saw relatively little tidal flooding and beach erosion, despite a coastal flood advisory from the National Weather Service.

But forecasters of issued a coastal flood watch for Thursday (Oct. 10) when the wind and waves will be much stronger.

"Rain driven by gale-force northeast winds combined with high surf could result in even greater coastal inundation flooding during the midday and afternoon hours on Thursday," according to the NWS coastal flood watch.

High tide in Ocean City on the bay side at the Ninth Street Bridge is 12:56 p.m. Residents of flood-prone streets in Ocean City should consider moving their vehicles to higher ground.

The slow-moving nor'easter could affect high-tide cycles into the weekend with rough surf and more coastal flooding.

The flood watch predicts tide levels on the oceanfront in Cape May to be 7.5 feet to 8.0 feet above mean low water during high tide on Thursday afternoon. Predicted tides in Atlantic City are for near 7.0 feet above mean low water.

In Ocean City, the tide level reached 10.02 feet on the same scale during Superstorm Sandy. Minor tidal flooding (expected about six times a year) is 6.5 feet, and moderate tidal flooding (once every five years) is 7.5 feet.

Wave heights on the ocean side are expected to be 8 to 12 feet offshore and 6 to 8 feet in the surf and further erode beaches damaged by Superstorm Sandy. A protective berm at Ocean City's narrowest stretch of beach between 55th and 57th streets was holding at high tide on Wednesday, but the rest of the beach was underwater.

Rain is likely both Thursday and Friday, and clouds are expected to linger throughout the weekend. Rainfall totals could reach 2 to 4 inches with the highest amounts closest to the coast. Wind gusts will reach 40 to 45 mph.

The ocean water temperature was 64.9 degrees on Wednesday afternoon.