Tuesday’s Storms Caused Meteotsunami In Parts of the Northeast

As the Hudson Valley and many parts of the Northeast continue the cleanup after Tuesday's severe thunderstorms slammed the area, meteorologists are taking notice of another rare event caused by the wild weather.

The NY Post says something called a meteotsunami hit the coast from Connecticut all the way down to parts of Delaware.

So what is a meteotsunami? Accuweather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski told the NY Post

It’s a disturbance in the bay or ocean surface just like a tsunami, but in this case, it’s caused by a sudden atmospheric pressure change and a corresponding rush of air.

It sounds crazy, but Sosnowski went on to say it's a fancy name for a fairly minor event. Unlike regular tsunamis, they are not caused seismic activity.  Meteotsunamis are restricted to local effects. The largest meteotsunami that was ever recorded happened in Vela Luka, Croatia in 1978, where waves reached juts under six feet in height, according to Wikipedia.