Flood Watch, Wind Advisory in Effect for Shore

It won't be a repeat of the 2010 post-Christmas blizzard, but a coastal storm will bring rain, high winds and the threat of flooding to the Shore area Wednesday into Thursday.

A coastal flood watch was in effect for Monmouth and Ocean counties and a wind advisory stretched the entire length of the shoreline from Sandy Hook to Cape May.

Rain was forecast to begin falling across the region by 1 p.m., forecasters with the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly predicted. Wind gusts were forecast to reach up to 40 m.p.h. during the afternoon Wednesday and up to an inch of rain was possible.

Heavy rain is forecast to continue through Wednesday night into Thursday morning, with as much as two additional inches falling. Wind gusts could reach about 50 m.p.h. overnight, the NWS predicted.

The coastal flood warning will be in effect from Wednesday night through Thursday morning, and will cover areas hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy where flooding is still a major concern.

A Dec. 21 storm re-flooded areas that had been saturated by Sandy weeks earlier.

"Moderate" tidal flooding is possible with the Wednesday night or Thursday morning high tide, the NWS said in its statement on the coastal flood watch.