New nor’easter to howl along mid-Atlantic coast by next week with renewed beach erosion, coastal flooding
AccuWeather.com
Three weeks after a major nor’easter blasted the Middle Atlantic coast, another powerful coastal storm will develop this weekend, drift westward and bring long-duration gusty winds, beach erosion and tidal flooding as it strengthens next week.
The new nor’easter will follow some dramatic weather in the Northeast with severe thunderstorms quickly followed by cold winds and even snow showers for some areas into this weekend.
“The most significant coastal impacts are expected close to the center of the storm, potentially on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, southeastern Virginia and the beach communities of Maryland and Delaware,” AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Adam Douty said.
Wind gusts of 40-60 mph are expected to span from far southern New Jersey to near Cape Lookout, North Carolina.
The highest wind gusts will be closest to the storm, from southeastern Virginia to the Outer Banks, with an AccuWeather Local StormMax™ wind gust of 70 mph.
“If the storm moves close enough to the coast, there can also be bouts of potentially heavy rain from New Jersey to the eastern part of the Carolinas,” Douty said. “While this could raise some inland urban flooding concerns, the most significant impacts would likely remain along the coast.”
AccuWeather meteorologists do not expect this storm to be as severe as the late September nor’easter in southern New England, southeastern New York and New Jersey.
However, given the storm’s duration and proximity to the coast, it may be more impactful for areas along the Outer Banks and the southeastern Virginia coast. Route 12 in the Outer Banks may once again become impassable for a time due to overwash with significant damage possible.
Some roads along the coast, as well as low-lying city streets in beach communities, will be inundated, especially at times of high tide. With the moon in the first quarter phase for much of the storm, astronomical tides are not as extreme as they were with the September nor’easter, when there was the approach of the full moon.
Impacts will extend well to the south, including along the Florida Atlantic coast, with heavy surf posing strong rip current risks for swimmers.
“Since the storm will be slow-moving and linger for several days, there will be multiple high tide cycles when coastal flooding would be the most significant, which may compound the impacts from the storm,” Douty said.
Depending on the intensity of the storm’s northeast winds, tides of 2-3 feet above normal are expected, but can locally reach 4-6 feet above normal from southeastern Virginia to northeastern North Carolina, where water piles up in the back bays.
Marine traffic will likely experience an extended period of disruptions from the Delaware Bay to the lower end of the Chesapeake Bay and the Carolina coast from the weekend through much of next week. Conditions near the coast will be especially rough near the inlets for small craft. Offshore seas averaging 15-25 feet are likely by early next week.
“As the storm lingers near the warm waters of the Gulf Stream next week, it can gradually take on tropical or sub-tropical characteristics,” Douty said. “Regardless of whether or not the low pressure area becomes a tropical or subtropical storm, expected impacts would effectively remain the same.”
Should the low pressure area become a tropical or subtropical storm, the next name on the list for the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season is Josephine.
As the storm howls along the middle Atlantic coast next week, dry and sunny weather is in store for the Midwest and the interior Northeast and Southeast regions.
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