High Surf — Eastern Atlantic, New Jersey

1996-08-29 to 1996-08-31 · Eastern Atlantic, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

Rough surf, associated with Hurricane Edouard affected the New Jersey Coast around the Labor Day Weekend and caused two drownings and one serious injury. A 71-year-old man drowned the afternoon of the 29th when his boat capsized in the Great Egg Harbor Inlet off of Longport. A 28-year-old man drowned on the 30th while surfing in Lavallette. A 44-year-old Ocean City man was seriously injured the same day after a wave flipped him off his body board and he landed head first in the sand. The hurricane passed about 250 miles east of Atlantic City the evening of Sunday September 1st. But, the roughest surf generally occurred on the 30th with slow improvement over the rest of the Labor Day Weekend. Most beaches were either closed or had bathing restrictions throughout the weekend. Beach patrols reported that the busiest day for rescues was Friday the 30th. Many had to perform no rescues at all on Sunday September 1st. Tidal departures were only 1 to 2 feet above normal with no reports of tidal flooding. The highest winds were less than 30 mph.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5571251. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.