Coastal Flood — Coastal Rockingham, New Hampshire

2024-01-13 · Coastal Rockingham, New Hampshire

Event narrative

In the Portsmouth region at the Seavey Island gauge, the tide reached 13.17 feet MLLW at 1212 pm. The storm surge was recorded at 3.33 feet. The Hampton, New Hampshire gage topped out at 14.20 feet MLLW with a storm surge of 4.20 feet. The water level at the Seavey Island and Hampton Tide gages were the highest ever recorded for their period of record.

In Hampton, New Hampshire, flooding occurred off Ashworth Ave and Island Path. Winnacunnet Road was closed in Hampton as well as Route 101 along the Beach. Water reached a depth of up to three feet in places with water rescues required of residents. Business restaurants were flooded up to two feet deep along Route One in Portsmouth near the Sagamore Creek and Prescott Park as well as the Gardner Street area. Prescott Park was flooded one to two feet in the town. A home on Glade Path was surrounded by water in Hampton along with Brown and Highland Avenue. Great Island Common was closed in New Castle as well as the New Castle Common due to coastal flooding. Squmamscott Road was closed due to coastal flooding in the Newfield area of the Great Bay Estuary. In Seabrook, New Hampshire Route 286 was closed due to flooding. U.S. Route one was closed as well from Hampton to Hampton Falls as well as Rye. Most closures were due to inundation coastal flooding, but wave action flooding along the exposed coastline also caused road closures due to debris and over wash.

Wider weather episode

The second severe storm in a week's time struck the northern New England coastline during the middle of January. An intense and rapidly deepening area of low pressure over the Great Lakes region (979 mb) combined the highest astronomical tides of the month to produce extreme flooding along the coast. Portland had its all-time storm tide, posting a record flood water level (records 1912-present). The Hampton tide gage also recorded its highest water level since records began in 2012. Storm force southeasterly winds occurred along the coast with nearshore waves of 15 to 20 feet. A flash flood warning was issued for the Seacoast prior to high tide due to rapidly rising ocean water and fresh waters as heavy rain accompanied a coastal front just prior to high tide.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1157934. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.