Post-Tropical Cyclone Josephine accelerated away from the U.S. East Coast on Thursday, October 22, 2026, after bringing wind and coastal flooding to the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions. The National Hurricane Center reported the storm was located 235 miles east-southeast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, as of Thursday morning, moving northeast at 13 mph with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. Forecasters expected the system to briefly strengthen into a powerful extratropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds by late Thursday while moving farther into the open Atlantic.
The system transitioned from a nor'easter to a named subtropical storm on Wednesday, October 21, as it acquired tropical characteristics over warm waters off the Southeast. Subtropical storms share features of both tropical hurricanes, which draw energy from warm water, and non-tropical nor'easters. Earlier in the week, the system caused beach erosion and coastal flooding along the Carolina and Mid-Atlantic coasts. While the storm center remained offshore, its outer effects reached land across the Northeast on Thursday.
Meteorologists reported wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph for eastern Long Island and eastern Massachusetts on Thursday, with Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard seeing gusts exceeding 50 mph. While most rain remained over the ocean, showers were possible across Cape Cod and Rhode Island. The FOX Forecast Center noted that coastal flooding would likely linger in the Chesapeake Bay through Thursday or early Friday, while high tides elsewhere were expected to subside.
The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season remains behind typical activity levels, with Josephine marking the 10th named storm by late October. According to meteorologists, the 10th named storm usually forms by late September, but an El Niño event has suppressed Atlantic storm activity this year. Although Josephine is expected to strengthen to hurricane-force winds of at least 74 mph as it moves away from the coast, the National Hurricane Center indicates the most severe wind and rain will remain over the Atlantic Ocean.
The storm is expected to remain south of Canada's Atlantic provinces as it moves further out to sea. Residents in affected coastal areas will likely see wind and rain subside by the weekend of October 24-25, according to the FOX Forecast Center. While the storm is moving away, dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents are expected to persist along parts of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic coasts through the end of the work week. Forecasters expect the East Coast to remain largely dry through the upcoming weekend as the system moves northeastward.