How Will Tropical Storm Zeta Impact Hoboken Thursday And Friday?

Caren Lissner
Updated ·3 min read

HOBOKEN, NJ — For the eight anniversary of Hurricane Sandy this Thursday, Hoboken finds itself in a similar position to eight years ago, with rain expected, an important election on the way, and altered Halloween plans — although not for the same reasons. Forecasters predict a very rainy pair of days at the end of this week as Tropical Storm Zeta (according to the most recent predictions) approaches the area.

The remnants are expected to dump several inches of rain over two days, according to this map from the National Hurricane Center.

Hoboken suffered from two "50-year storms" this past July, meaning storms that theoretically should occur once every 50 years (a 2 percent chance in any given year). Parts of Hoboken flooded at high tide.

A recent all-day rainstorm on Oct. 16 did not cause flooding in Hoboken, something Police Chief Ken Ferrante Tweeted was due, in part, to the tides. "Low tide is 3 pm, high tide is 846 pm," he wrote. "No flooding reported in city of Hoboken at this time despite these heavy rains. The low tide time works out as best as possible."

This coming Thursday and Friday, the city's tides are expected to be high at 8:02 a.m. and 8:18 p.m., and on Friday at 8:37 a.m. and 8:44 p.m.

You can track the path and possible arrival times of Zeta via the National Hurricane Center here.

As of Tuesday night, Hoboken had not issued an advisory on flooding for Zeta, but watch Hoboken Patch for advisories and details.

There's good news: Accuweather predicts sunshine for Halloween on Saturday.

Mayor responds to past storms

After one of the 50-year storms brought flooding this past July, Mayor Ravi Bhalla said, "The reality is, according to numerous scientific studies, these types of storms are already becoming much more frequent and with greater intensity, due to rising global temperatures and climate change, and will continue on this pattern. In fact, one study determined the heaviest 1 percent of rain events in the Northeast region of the United States have increased by 42 percent since the 1950s. ... This is not to shift the blame, it is simply to give context and a holistic view of what is occurring in Hoboken."

Bhalla also had sent a detailed letter about what Hoboken is doing to combat flooding on July 11 after Tropical Storm Fay. (Click here to read that letter.)

"Even with unlimited funding, we are unlikely to solve the most severe of storms (50-year flooding event or worse)," he wrote. "Most of Hoboken, especially the western part of the City, was developed on land that was previously tidal wetlands from the Hudson River. NHSA estimates that to prevent the most severe of flooding events, like the storm we saw yesterday, we would need to replace our entire sewer system, which would cost an estimated $3 billion."

He added, "Nonetheless, Hoboken is making major investments into mitigating the large majority of storms and heavy rain events that are more frequent."

These Hoboken corners often flood when there's a massive storm:

  • 1st and Marshall

  • 1st and Harrison

  • 2nd and Harrison

  • 3rd and Harrison

  • 4th and Harrison

  • 4th and Monroe

  • 3rd and Jackson

  • 4th and Jackson

  • 9th and Monroe

  • 9th and Madison

  • 10th and Madison

  • 1st and Clinton

  • 3rd and Clinton

  • Henderson and Newark

  • Grove and Newark

Got flooding photos we can post? Email them to the address below.

To read other local news in Hoboken, click here.

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This article originally appeared on the Hoboken Patch