Flooding during last week's snowstorm was nowhere near as extreme in Rhode Island and the South Coast as it was in areas like Boston, Scituate and Marshfield. But why?
Part of the reason has to do with luck.
Janet Freedman, coastal geologist at the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, said winds during the storm blew in from the northeast, and unlike Massachusetts, Rhode Island’s south shore faces south.
“So, if we have a Nor’easter that’s to our southwest, we will at some point in the storm, we will be getting winds from the south east. We didn’t have that now, the winds were coming from the north," Freedman said, meaning the winds blew the water away from the shore instead of toward it.
Freedman said Rhode Island’s high tide also had better timing than Massachusetts’.
Here’s the SPIKE that signifies the major flooding that swept #Scituate at high tide earlier today. Next tide should be 4 feet lower, thankfully. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/Q7DisW50QH
— Jason Brewer (@JBrewerBoston25) January 4, 2018
“Our high tides were nine o’clock that day and the storm had just started really picking up speed, whereas in Massachusetts, in Boston and Cape Cod, their high tides were in the afternoon, so they were right in the peak of the storm," Freedman said.
The National Weather Service reported Boston had its highest tide on record that day.
[OFFICIAL] Boston has broken the highest ever recorded tide since 1921. New Record: 4.88' MHHW (or 15.16' MLLW) on January 4th, 2018. Old Record: 4.82' MHHW (or 15.10' MLLW) during the Blizzard of '78. https://t.co/7qZNHVm0y5
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) January 5, 2018
Rhode Island also had higher than normal tides, but flooding in areas such as South Kingstown and Westerly was minor at less than a foot, Freedman said.
The Boston Globe documented flooding along Massachusetts' coast, including icy water that flooded Atlantic Avenue in downtown Boston.
