Surf from distant Hurricane Gonzalo began to arrive in Ocean City on Friday afternoon with sets of chest- and head-high waves rolling in.
Gonzalo’s track was expected to pass near Bermuda on Friday afternoon, and the storm was still a Category 3 with sustained winds of 125 mph.
Hurricane Gonzalo became the first Category 4 hurricane (sustained winds of 130 mph) in the Atlantic Ocean since Ophelia in 2011. But the storm has weakened slightly.
Gonzalo’s projected path will take it northward over the open water of the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday and Sunday, and it will remain far from Ocean City.
But the swell from the distant storm is expected to peak Saturday with overhead waves in Ocean City.
Local winds were offshore (west), creating clean conditions early on Friday. But they were starting to shift from the southwest
The ocean water temperature is 68 degrees, and high tide will be late afternoon on Saturday.
