Hurricane Irene made landfall 10 miles north of Atlantic City at 0535 this morning. This made Irene the first hurricane to directly landfall in New Jersey in 108 years! The last hurricane to come ashore directly in New Jersey was the 1903 New Jersey Hurricane. Irene was a minimal Category 1 at landfall with 75mph winds (the lower threshold of a hurricane is 74mph winds). While worse hurricanes have impacted the state without landfall in the past, Irene’s landfall is very special since landfalls in New Jersey are so rare. The hurricane was the worst tropical cyclone to affect the state since Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Hurricane Gloria made landfall on Long Island.
The strongest onshore winds were timed with the high tide since the storm center was still 20 or so miles south. I was up at the beach this morning from 0630 through 0800 and witnessed the combination of large waves, high tide and storm surge attacking the beach and dunes. The winds were blowing E at a solid and steady 40-50mph and the waves were 10-15ft. Around 0730 the winds slackened and the sky brightened as the ’eye’ was passing overhead. The eye was not distinct but was obvious by a brightening of the clouds and from the slacking wind. The rain also tapered off. 20 or so minutes later the winds shifted SW which signaled the eye was through. The storm was over by 0830.
 |
| High waves and a storm surge slammed into the dunes at high tide this morning |
 |
| The sea was angry and powerful. Winds during this photo were E at 40-50mph. Waves were at least 10-15ft. Some sets were breaking a quarter mile out. |
 |
| The winds turned hard SW as soon as the storm center passed |
The beach took a pretty good hit for only a one night storm. The dunes weren’t scarped, but the sand fences that have been in place since spring 2010 were ripped out. Property damage on the beach was limited to sand fences and lost stairs. It will take a week or so to asses how much erosion there was. The biggest impact here, though, seems to be the bay flooding. The onshore winds that blew last night piled water up into the back bays and now the bay is flooding with this morning’s high tide at 1100 even though the storm is over. Rt 35S is closed and all the low lying areas have water. Bay flooding was very significant in Normandy Beach.
 |
| Bay Flooding was significant in low lying areas of Normandy Beach | | |
|
|
 |
| This was the only wind damage I could find |
|
 |
| The ocean was receding fast. Hopefully we get to surf this afternoon! |
This was the most significant storm since the March 13th, 2010 nor’easter. This will definitely finish up as a notable storm but it was certainly not the worst hurricane to effect us, even though it made a direct landfall. Wind damage was surprisingly light- we had a stack of light firewood on the side of the house that wasn’t worth taking in and surprisingly none of it was moved even though it was exposed to the wind all night. I didn’t see any notable wind damage anywhere.
From looking around on my bike this morning it appears the greatest impact is bay flooding. Beach erosion ranks second and wind impact was a non-issue. Inland, freshwater flooding from excessive rains is likely the worst aspect of this storm. Because Irene’s rainfall came on top of record rains early in the month, this August is sure to be wettest on record and quite possibly the wettest month on record of any month in history in select cities.
