An October nor'easter is meandering off the Atlantic coast, where it will bring high surf, rip currents, coastal flooding and winds to parts of the East Coast for several days this week.

The National Hurricane Center has highlighted it as an area to watch this week for the potential development of Josephine.

However, regardless of whether we call this system a nor'easter or Josephine, the impacts will be the same. The bottom line: This system will bring dangerous conditions to the East Coast for multiple days this week.

(MORE: What is a nor'easter?)

Impacts

While we do not expect this storm to be as strong as the late September nor'easter, there will still be some impacts. They are broken down below:

Coastal flooding

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The area most likely to be impacted the longest appears to stretch from the Delmarva Peninsula to eastern North Carolina.

Coastal flood alerts are in effect for parts of coastal North Carolina, where anywhere from 1 to 4 feet of inundation is possible. High surf advisories are also in place across the North Carolina coastline, with waves potentially reaching up to 14 feet.

Across parts of the coastlines of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, inundation up to a foot and large waves to 12 feet are possible.

Water levels across river gauges from North Carolina to Maryland could rise to moderate flood stage.

High surf, coastal flooding and rip currents are expected to stretch as far south as Florida's Atlantic beaches and as far north as New England's coastline. Expect significant beach erosion across the East Coast this week.

Winds and rain

The Outer Banks will again see the worst impacts in terms of winds and rain. Wind advisories are in place, calling for winds to gust up to 40 mph. These winds could knock out power lines and bring travel delays.

This storm shouldn't be a huge rainmaker; most of the heavy rain is forecast to stay offshore. However, there could be some off-and-on showers throughout the week, mainly for coastal areas.

(MORE: What to do 72, 48 and 24 hours before a winter storm hits)

Where will it go?

The low is expected to stay well offshore, and just slowly meander northward over the next few days. By Thursday, the low should be off the Massachusetts coast, will will mean windy conditions, and rough coastal conditions for the Cape later this week.
By Thursday into Friday, the low will be picked up by a cold front and quickly move out to sea, which will improve conditions along the coast.
The models are still having a hard time agreeing on when exactly the low will pull away from the coast, but either way, expect improving conditions during the latter half of the week.

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What you should do

• For now, just keep in mind that the weather for the next few days, particularly from North Carolina to the Delmarva Peninsula, may be windy and, in some areas, there could be rain and coastal flooding at high tide.
• Obey any red flags warning of rip current danger at the beach. If in doubt, stay out of the surf zone if breaking waves look impressive.
• Check back with us at weather.com and The Weather Channel app in the days ahead as this forecast comes into focus.

Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky, X and Facebook.