Joaquin Enhances Storm Surge Up and Down East Coast

Joaquin Enhances Storm Surge Up and Down East Coast

    Hurricane Joaquin may be passing several hundred miles east of the U.S. East Coast, but coastal affects in part attributable to the storm will be felt up and down the Eastern Seaboard.
    A widespread storm surge, or how high water levels could rise above normal tides, in the range of 1 to 2 feet is expected once again on Sunday from Georgia to Massachusetts, even with the center of Joaquin tracking more than 400 miles east of the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

   Although a player in the water level rise, Joaquin is not the sole reason for coastal flooding concerns. A large area of high pressure over southeastern Canada is causing an increased pressure gradient, or sharp change from high pressure to low pressure, from north to south.Winds rotating clockwise around the high pressure system coupled with counter-clockwise winds around Joaquin and the developing non-tropical low pressure area over the Southeast create a persistent easterly fetch of winds along the East Coast.That scenario results in wind pushing water and waves against the coast. With nowhere for the water to go, it piles up onto beaches and into bays. Water levels should continue to remain above normal through Sunday across much of the Eastern Seaboard, before tides return closer to normal early this upcoming week.

A computer model forecast for water level rises

Coastal Flood Alerts

Original Article: http://www.wunderground.com/news/hurricane-joaquin-storm-surge-georgia-maine-2015