After forecasts of as much of 14 inches of snow from a much-hyped Winter Storm “Juno,” Ocean City appears to have escaped the worst of the coastal blizzard.
By 2 a.m. Tuesday morning, only a dusting had fallen on the island, and meteorologists were calling for an uncertain few more inches.
The National Weather Service all along had warned that the track of the storm was uncertain, but when they upped their snowfall projections from about four inches to 14 inches on Monday, the Ocean City School District cancelled classes for all schools on Tuesday. The Ocean City Free Public Library and the Ocean City Municipal Court also announced closings for Tuesday.
But the storm system tracked farther out to sea than anticipated, and it appears that New England will bear the brunt of the storm. Bands of snow could still affect Ocean City on Tuesday morning.
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A few flakes of snow fell at dawn on Monday, but the precipitation turned to rain for most of the day. The rain and wind grew stronger through the day but began to fade in the evening.
Ocean City schools cancelled some after-school activities and rescheduled others on Monday. The Ocean City Police Department warned residents not to park on West Avenue, an emergency route, if snow covered the street.
Forecasters also warned of moderate tidal flooding — even though the predicted tide levels were not particularly high at a period halfway between a new moon and full moon. But the northeast winds that were expected to create a storm surge of a few extra feet were not quite as strong as expected.
One NOAA model projected a tide in Atlantic City approaching 7 feet on the mean low water scale. But the tide in Ocean City reached only 6.58 feet at the Bayside Center in Ocean City at 1:36 a.m.
By comparison, the Dec. 9, 2014 nor’easter in Ocean City saw a peak MLW reading of 7.29 feet.
See where this storm stacks up against others in terms of water level: Ocean City Record Flood Levels.
Streets along the bay and on the low-lying Simpson and Haven avenues saw flooding in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, but nothing as severe as during a handful of other storms in the past year.
The forecast calls for some chance of continued snow on Tuesday with a high temperature of 31 degrees. The low is expected to fall to 17 degrees on windy and cold Tuesday night.
The sun will return on Wednesday with a high of 29 degrees, according to the NWS.
Check back for photos and updates on the storm on Tuesday morning.
