Coastal Flood Warning in Effect for Ocean City

Ocean City, NJ -- A Coastal Flood Advisory has been upgraded to a Coastal Flood Warning, and is in effect for Ocean City through 1 a.m. Saturday, the National Weather Service announced Thursday night.

Minor tidal flooding is possible at high tide, which is set for 8:32 a.m. and 8:53 p.m. on Friday.

A Coastal Flood Warning means flooding is occurring or is imminent.

However, flooding isn't expected to reach levels of the storms in January or February. In fact, the tide gauge at the Bayside Center in Ocean City peaked at 6.85 feet on the mean low water scale on Thursday at 7:54 p.m. and reached 6.33 feet on Friday morning at 8:12 a.m., officials said Friday morning.

This is compared to a tide level of 8.46 feet during the January 2016 nor'easter (Jonas) and 7.44 feet on the morning after the Super Bowl (Feb. 8, 2016).

Residents should move cars from areas that typically experience tidal flooding before high tide, and drivers shouldn't attempt to drive through flood waters.

The forecast from the National Weather Service calls for possible rain and northeast winds of 15 to 25 mph. Tides are predicted to be higher than normal because of a new moon on Friday, and the weather could add as much as another foot and a half to the tide level.