As a barrier island with little elevation, Ocean City is subject to flooding events year-round. The city encourages all residents, property owners and guests to learn how to anticipate flooding and make preparations to protect safety and property.
1) Check the regular tides. Full moons and new moons cause higher tides, and flooding events most often coincide with these cycles.
- Estimated Tide Chart for Ocean City NJ 08226 (Regularly predicted tide levels for coming days)
2) Check the flooding forecast. The National Weather Service provides predictions that factor in regular tide levels plus storm effects.
- Predictions for Tide/Flood Level for Ocean City, NJ (Forecasted flood level -- regularly predicted tide plus storm effects)
3) Check out what's going on right now. USGS maintains a tidal gauge in Ocean City that provides real-time reports on how high the water is. The site also maintains archived data.
- Real-Time Tide Chart for Ocean City NJ 08226 (Live gauge -- tide level right now)
4) Know what it all means. If you've experienced other flooding events, see how the predictions compare.
- Historic Tide Levels Chart (Recent and historic flood levels for comparison)
- Tide Reference Chart for Ocean City NJ 08226 (Record flood levels in chart form)
Make sure you're using the same scale. Forecasters use different scales to compare tides -- most often Mean Low Water (MLW) and NAVD88. Each of the links above will reference one, the other, or both. To convert an NAVD88 reading to MLW, add 2.06 feet.
