Update: Coastal Flood Watch from Wed. Afternoon Through Thurs. A.M.

The National Weather Service now has a Coastal Flood Watch in effect for the Jersey Shore area from Wednesday afternoon through Thursday morning.

The Monday afternoon advisory, issued just before 3 p.m., has the following predictions for the flood watch:

"* LOCATION...COASTAL AREAS FROM ATLANTIC COUNTY NORTH THROUGH MONMOUTH AND MIDDLESEX COUNTIES INCLUDING BARNEGAT BAY.

* COASTAL FLOODING...WIDESPREAD MINOR WITH POSSIBLY MODERATE COASTAL FLOODING DURING THE HIGH TIDE CYCLES ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND AGAIN ON EARLY THURSDAY MORNING.

* AT...SANDY HOOK, NEW JERSEY, HIGH TIDE WILL OCCUR AT 258 PM WEDNESDAY WITH A FORECAST TIDE LEVEL OF 7.5 TO 8.0 FEET ABOVE MEAN LOWER LOW WATER. HIGH TIDE WILL THEN OCCUR AT 331 AM THURSDAY WITH A FORECAST TIDE LEVEL NEAR 8.0 FEET ABOVE MEAN LOWER LOW WATER.

* AT...SEASIDE HEIGHTS, NEW JERSEY HIGH TIDE WILL OCCUR AT 228 PM WEDNESDAY WITH A FORECAST TIDE LEVEL OF 7.0 FEET ABOVE MEAN LOWER LOW WATER. HIGH TIDE WILL THEN OCCUR AT 301 AM THURSDAY WITH A FORECAST TIDE LEVEL OF 7.0 FEET ABOVE MEAN LOWER LOW WATER.

* AT...ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY HIGH TIDE WILL OCCUR AT 245 PM WEDNESDAY WITH A FORECAST TIDE LEVEL OF 7.0 FEET ABOVE MEAN LOWER LOW WATER. HIGH TIDE WILL THEN OCCUR AT 320 AM THURSDAY WITH A FORECAST TIDE LEVEL OF 7.0 FEET ABOVE MEAN LOWER LOW WATER.

* HIGH TIDES ON THE BACK BAYS AS WELL AS RARITAN AND BARNEGAT BAYS OCCUR LATER THAT THE HIGH TIDE ON THE OCEANFRONT. * SEAS...7 TO 15 FEET.

* IMPACTS...EXPECT ROAD CLOSURES DURING THE TIMES OF HIGH TIDE. SOME BREACHES AND POSSIBLE PROPERTY DAMAGE TO VULNERABLE STRUCTURES COULD OCCUR IF MODERATE TIDAL FLOODING LEVELS ARE REACHED. WAVE ACTION WILL CAUSE EROSION.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERATE OR MAJOR COASTAL FLOODING.

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO UPDATED FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS. FOR A LIST OF THE IMPACT OF DIFFERENT TIDE HEIGHTS IN YOUR COUNTY PLEASE GO TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PHI/TIDES.HTM"

By Monday morning, the National Weather Service was already calling the incoming bad weather "a strong coastal storm" likely to feature heavy rain and wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph that may cause flooding.

The 11:27 a.m. update from the Weather Service reports:

"A STRONG COASTAL STORM WILL IMPACT PORTIONS OF THE AREA WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY AND THE RAIN WILL PROBABLY CHANGE TO WET SNOW AT TIMES....POSSIBLY WITH BURST OF HEAVY SNOW. A PERIOD OR TWO OF STRONG NORTHEAST WIND GUSTS OF 50 TO POSSIBLY 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG THE COASTS WEDNESDAY INTO EARLY THURSDAY.

MODERATE TO POSSIBLY MAJOR TIDAL FLOODING IS POSSIBLE ALONG THE ATLANTIC COAST OF DELAWARE WITH AT LEAST MINOR...IF NOT MODERATE TIDAL FLOODING POSSIBLE ALONG THE NEW JERSEY COAST. A WINTER STORM WATCH...COASTAL FLOOD WATCH AND HIGH WIND WATCH "MAY" BE ISSUED FOR THE APPROPRIATE PORTIONS OF OUR AREA IN OUR 330 PM FORECASTS. WE STILL HAVEN`T EVALUATED ALL THE DAYTIME GUIDANCE TO BE SURE ON OUR COURSE OF ACTION."