Subtropical Storm Josephine brings high surf to East Coast
Oct 22, 2026
Subtropical Storm Josephine is tracking northeast away from the United States, but the storm continues to generate large swells, dangerous surf and rip currents along the East Coast.
Subtropical storm Josephine is staying offshore,
but its effects can still reach the coast.
22 News Storm Team Meteorologist Alexa Bianco explains what makes
this storm different and the coastal hazards it could bring.
Yes, Sarah and Claire, Josephine has characteristics
of both tropical and non-tropical systems,
and even with its center offshore, its broad wind field can
stir up potentially dangerous conditions along the coast.
Josephine is tracking northeast away from the United States,
but the storm is generating large swells
that can bring dangerous surf and rip currents along
the east coast. A subtropical storm like Josephine has both tropical
and non-tropical characteristics
and must have sustained winds of at least 39 miles per hour.
Its strongest winds are typically
spread farther from the center.
Tropical storms get their energy from the warm water and the warm
air whereas with some extra tropical systems you have
these clashes of hot and cold air
with fronts and so subtropical lows are kind
of a mishmash of all of that together. Wind gusts have
reached up to 50 miles per hour for the Cape
and Islands but as this storm moves away that will
start to calm down. With rough seas
and gusty conditions boaters and surfers are advised to
stay off the water until the wind and seas improve.
We are dealing with the rough seas, the high surf
and the gusty winds so it could cause hazardous conditions for mariners
or anybody out along the
coast. The beaches are much less crowded.
Like you mentioned, the surfers, they do go out there
in the colder water and rip currents are one
of the big impacts that we will see.