This article initially appeared in Shore Local magazine on Oct. 16
It ripped, roared and, most consequentially, flooded. The first nor’easter of the 2025-2026 cool-weather season may very well turn out to be the most powerful one. Here are the most impressive storm stats to me for the Jersey Shore and beyond.
– The Sunday or Monday afternoon high tide was in the top 10 highest on record for nearly everywhere, from Cape May up to southern Monmouth County, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
– Most of Cape May and Atlantic counties saw three consecutive tides in moderate flood stage.
– Sen. Frank S. Farley State Marina broke a daily rainfall record that had stood since 1927.
Plus, while we will remember this as a nor’easter, there were tropical characteristics to this storm, too. Let’s explain the details for all of this.
How severe were the tides at the Jersey Shore?
Atlantic City Marina had its fifth highest tide on record, peaking at 7.4 feet above mean lower low water, the average height of the two lowest low tides Monday afternoon.
Ocean City had its sixth highest tide on record, reaching 7.0 feet above mean lower low water Monday.
Down near Exit 0 in Cape May, the ninth highest tide on record, peaking at 7.7 feet above mean lower low water, was experienced on Sunday.
Ocean County ended up having the highest tides. Barnegat Light in the northern part of Long Beach Island, had the fourth highest tide on record. Meanwhile, across the Barnegat Bay in Waretown, 3 feet of water was recorded in the lowest-lying areas — their worst recorded tide.
Farther north Manasquan, Monmouth County, had its 10th highest tide. The least severe flooding was on the Raritan Bayshore. They stayed in minor flood stage.
There is a caveat to all of this. These records only go back to 2000 at the earliest. So it doesn’t count the 1991 or 1992 nor’easters, the 1962 Ash Wednesday storm or the 1944 hurricane, among others. However, there have been roughly 9,100 days between 2000 and fall 2025. This tide ranks in the top 0.1%. That’s impressive.
To put things in perspective, it helps to have a recent event with which to compare the storm, so let’s consider Hurricane Erin.
In late August, Erin brought the highest storm surge on record to the following locations: Absecon, Atlantic City (Inside Thorofare), Sea Isle City, Avalon, Stone Harbor and Cape May (bayside), according to NOAA.
For the South Jersey shore, south of Long Beach Island, the highest tide stayed near Erin’s height, whether it happened on Sunday or Monday afternoon. North of LBI, at least one of the two tides from the nor’easter were higher than Erin.
The South Jersey shore could have been worse. Thankfully, winds on Monday morning were from the northwest — offshore — which pushed some of the water out. Had they been northeast, like the rest of the Jersey Shore was, towns like Ocean City and Somers Point would have had tides higher than Erin on Monday afternoon, pushing into major flood territory.
How much beach erosion occurred at the Jersey Shore?
The exact details won’t be known until towns and the Army Corps of Engineers complete their post-storm surveys. However, expect to hear that issues are widespread and severe for a few.
Towns already have stark cliffs of sand on the beach from Erin in August. Tack on additional erosion from a storm in September, and our sand infrastructure was already worse than it would be this time of the year going into the Oct. 12-13 storm.
I imagine every beach town has more erosion than they’d like to stomach for it being so early in the erosion season. Hopefully, this winter and next spring will have fewer nor’easters than usual.
Gusts over 60 mph
Wind gusts over 45 mph were widespread east of the Garden State Parkway, and on the bayshores. Island Beach State Park in Ocean County had the highest reported wind gusts, with 62 mph recorded at an Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist weather station. However, Avalon in Cape May County and Surf City in Ocean County also touched 60 mph.
Here are some other top gusts:
Atlantic City – 56 mph
Brigantine – 52 mph
Cape May Harbor – 52 mph
Ocean City – 50 mph
The sustained winds, or constantly blowing ones, made for whistling trees and rattling outdoor furniture Sunday and Monday. Generally, it was 20 to 30 mph at the shore.
Gusts were much weaker inland. Woodbine in Cape May County reached 31 mph, and Hammonton in Atlantic County only got up to 27 mph.
Rain was heavy, too
Rain was the least of our concerns with this storm, but we still had a soaking; that is, east of the Garden State Parkway. Atlantic City Marina broke an Oct. 13 daily rainfall record with 2.11 inches of rain, beating the previous record set back in 1927, according to the NOAA.
Generally, rainfall totals were between 2 and 3 inches in Atlantic County. Cape May County generally had 1 to 2 inches of rain.
Once you got away from the four coastal counties — Cape May, Atlantic, Ocean and Monmouth — rainfall measured only up to an inch. Out near Trenton and Philadelphia, it was less than a half inch.
Jersey Shore streaming weather channel
I am targeting a launch date between Oct. 18 to 21 for the Jersey Shore’s streaming weather channel. Thanks to Sparkable (who also run the Shore Local website), everything Jersey Shore weather, with a little drone, will be on my YouTube channel and website for your viewing pleasure.
Tide and marine forecasts, current conditions, forecast videos, radar and support from our sponsors will all be on there. I also want to see your Jersey Shore photos! Submit your sunrises, snow, thunderstorms and fall foliage to be featured in a special shot on the livestream.
Keep it on your smart TV or computer all day long. Stay tuned for more details.
