National Weather Service: Merging nor'easters likely to bring snow, high winds, coastal flooding

The National Weather Service has issued both a Winter Storm Watch and Coastal Flooding Watch for Cape May County on Tuesday and Wednesday (see below), ahead of the fourth nor'easter to hit the region over the past month.

This one - actually two, as in a pair of merging nor'easters - is expected to bring snow accumulation, along with high winds. Beach erosion is all but inevitable.

Here's the official NWS forecast...

Tonight
A chance of rain, mainly after 3 am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 36. East wind 13 to 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.

Tuesday
Rain. High near 39. Windy, with a northeast wind 25 to 34 mph, with gusts as high as 49 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between three quarters and one inch possible.

Tuesday Night
Rain. Low around 37. Windy, with a northeast wind 23 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Wednesday
Rain and sleet, possibly mixed with snow before 1 pm, then rain and snow between 1 pm and 3 pm, then snow after 3 pm. The rain and sleet could be heavy at times. High near 38. Windy, with a northeast wind 22 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.

Wednesday Night
Snow, mainly before midnight. Low around 32. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible.

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The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Storm Watch for Cape May County, in effect from Wednesday morning through the evening, March 21.

A dangerous storm threatens heavy accumulations of wind driven sleet and snow, which may cause widespread power outages and make travel very difficult at times.

A pair of back to back nor'easter`s Tuesday and Wednesday mornings will merge into a single intense storm off the mid Atlantic coast by Wednesday afternoon and then head for Nantucket Island early
Thursday. Travel plans will be substantially altered by Wednesday. Consideration should be given to no unnecessary travel Wednesday afternoon and evening when the heaviest snow with 1 to 3 inch per
hour accumulation rates should occur.

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The National Weather Service has issued a Coastal Flood Watch for Cape May County, which is in effect from Tuesday, March 20 through late Wednesday night, March 21.

Minor flooding is possible with Tuesday night's high tide (10:15 pm - 11:15 pm).

Moderate flooding is possible with high tides on Wednesday (10:30 am - 11:30 am) and Wednesday night (11 pm - midnight). High tides on the back bays and along Delaware Bay occurs later than the high tide on the oceanfront.

Surges of around 1.5 to 2 feet on Tuesday night are expected, and around 2.5 to 3 feet on Wednesday and Wednesday night.

Waves projects  of around 12 to 18 feet off the boast on Tuesday night and Wednesday, and around 8 to 12 feet on Wednesday night.

Numerous roadways may flood and minor to moderate property damage is possible. The tide and wave action could result in moderate beach erosion.