Coastal Flood — Coastal Rockingham, New Hampshire

2021-01-16 · Coastal Rockingham, New Hampshire

Event narrative

The astronomical tide in Hampton of 9.2 feet combined with a storm surge of 2.8 feet at high tide to reach a 12.0 foot storm tide (flood stages is 11.0 feet). The tide remained above flood stage for 2 hours and 12 minutes at the Hampton tide gage. The new Seavey Island tide gauge topped out at around 11.0 feet. Water covered several roads in the back bay area of Hampton, including minor flooding of Route 1. Several houses had up to a foot of inundation. In Portsmouth, minor flooding occurred along Mechanic Street.

Wider weather episode

An area of low pressure intensified as it entered interior New England on January sixteenth with a 991mb surface low being observed. This produced storm force easterly wind gusts over the outer waters of the Gulf of Maine and 16 foot nearshore waves with a period of 8 seconds. These large waves and storm surge coincided at the time of high tide leading to coastal flooding on the New Hampshire Seashore.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 940508. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.