A strong nor'easter that produced blizzard conditions along the eastern seaboard caused major to record flooding in parts of New Jersey and Delaware during the morning high tide on Saturday, January 23rd.  Minor to moderate tidal flooding then occurred with the next two high tide cycles Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The most severe flooding occurred along the southern New Jersey coast in Cape May County, where old tidal flood records were surpassed.

Coastal Flood in EASTERN OCEAN, NEW JERSEY
From 23-JAN-16 05:12:00 to 23-JAN-16 09:06:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: River/Stream Gage

A prolonged onshore flow from a strong nor'easter produced moderate flooding during the morning high tide cycle on January 23rd. The NOAA NOS gage on the Atlantic Coast at Atlantic City rose above 7.0 ft MLLW at 0700EST, peaked at 8.03 ft MLLW at 0736EST, and dropped below 7.0 ft MLLW at 0906EST. 7.0 ft MLLW is considered the lower threshold for moderate flooding in that area.  The record flood at this gage occurred on December 11, 1992 when the water level reached 9.0 ft MLLW.
Crest levels at other gages along the back bays in Ocean County include:  2.59 ft MLLW at Mantaloking, 2.87 ft MLLW near Bayshore, 4.80 ft MLLW at Barnegat Light, 4.30 ft MLLW at Ship Bottom, and 6.93 ft MLLW at Tuckerton.  None of these crests reached record levels.

Coastal Flood in EASTERN ATLANTIC, NEW JERSEY
From 23-JAN-16 05:12:00 to 23-JAN-16 09:06:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: River/Stream Gage

A prolonged onshore flow from a strong nor'easter produced moderate flooding during the morning high tide cycle on January 23rd. The NOAA NOS gage on the Atlantic Coast at Atlantic City rose above 7.0 ft MLLW at 0700EST, peaked at 8.03 ft MLLW at 0736EST, and dropped below 7.0 ft MLLW at 0906EST. 7.0 ft MLLW is considered the lower threshold for moderate flooding in that area.  The record flood at this gage occurred on December 11, 1992 when the water level reached 9.0 ft MLLW.
Crests at other gages in the back bay areas of Atlantic County include: 8.37 ft MLLW in Absecon Channel at the AC Marina, and 7.78 ft MLLW at the Inside Thorofare at Atlantic City.  Neither of these crests reached record levels.

Coastal Flood in EASTERN CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY
From 23-JAN-16 06:00:00 to 23-JAN-16 10:02:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: River/Stream Gage

A prolonged onshore flow from a strong nor'easter produced record flooding during the morning high tide cycle on January 23rd. The NOAA NOS gage on the Atlantic Coast at Cape May rose above 7.7 ft MLLW at 0600EST, peaked at 8.98 ft MLLW at 0830EST, and dropped below 7.7 ft MLLW at 1002EST. 7.7 ft MLLW is considered the lower threshold for moderate flooding in that area.  This crest surpassed the previous record of 8.9 ft MLLW that occurred on October 29, 2012 from Post Tropical Storm Sandy.
Crests at gages in the back bay areas of Cape May County include:  8.00 ft MLLW in Ocean City, 8.95 ft MLLW in Sea Isle City, 8.70 ft MLLW in Avalon, 8.91 ft MLLW in Stone Harbor, and 9.26 ft MLLW in Cape May Harbor.  While all these crests were associated with moderate flooding, none were record level, with the exception of Cape May Harbor.

Coastal Flood in MIDDLESEX, NEW JERSEY
From 23-JAN-16 07:06:00 to 23-JAN-16 20:48:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: River/Stream Gage

During the morning high tide on January 23rd, the USGS gage on the Raritan River at South Amboy rose above 8.2 ft MLLW at 0706EST, peaked at 8.62 ft MLLW at 0742EST, and dropped below 8.2 ft MLLW at 0900EST.  During the evening high tide on January 23rd, this same gage rose above 8.2 ft MLLW at 1930EST, peaked at 8.40 ft MLLW at 1954EST, and dropped below 8.2 ft MLLW at 2048EST.  8.2 ft MLLW is considered the lower threshold for moderate flooding in that area.  The record flood at this gage occurred on December 11, 1992 when the water level reached 12.45 ft MLLW.

Coastal Flood in EASTERN MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY
From 23-JAN-16 07:48:00 to 23-JAN-16 20:30:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: River/Stream Gage

A prolonged onshore flow from a strong nor'easter produced flooding during two high tide cycles on January 23rd.  The water level along the Atlantic coast at the Sandy Hook NOS gage rose above 7.7 ft MLLW at 0748EST, peaked at 7.71 ft MLLW at 0750EST, and dropped below 7.7 ft MLLW at 0755EST.  During the evening high tide on January 23rd, this same gage rose above 7.7 ft MLLW at 1918EST, peaked at 7.88 ft MLLW at 1950EST, and dropped below 7.7 ft MLLW at 2030EST.  7.7 ft MLLW is considered the lower threshold for moderate flooding in that area.  The record flood at this gage occurred on October 29, 2012  when the water level reached 14.4 ft MLLW from Post Tropical Storm Sandy.
The Raritan Bay shore also experienced flooding during this event.  The USGS gage at Keansburg peaked at 8.48 ft MLLW during the morning high tide on January 23rd at 8:18 AM.  Moderate flooding begins at 8.2 ft MLLW.
Other waterways that experienced flooding during each of the three high tide cycles beginning the morning of January 23rd include the Shrewsbury River at Seabright, the Shark River at Belmar, and the Watson Creek at Manasquan.
In Sea Bright, large chunks of snow and ice floated down Ocean Avenue during the evening high tide on the 23rd.  Highway 36 was shut down in Sea Bright until the flood waters receded.  In Manasquan, which issued a voluntary evacuation order Friday, January 22nd, firefighters with the borough's high water rescue team spent the evening wading through icy waters to perform welfare checks on flooded residents. In Belmar, residents had power knocked out after a sailboat got tangled in power lines.