A "meteotsunami" hit New Jersey during Tuesday's storm that pounded the Atlantic Ocean and caused water levels to surge, NJ.com noted.
Since the start of the week, weather experts have been flinging around obscure names relating to the storm.
First we had a "derecho," which is a widespread wind storm accompanied with bands of rapidly moving showers and thunderstorms moving in one direction, along a relatively straight swath, with wind gusts reaching at least 58 mph or greater.
And while it is yet to be determined whether the powerful storm system that slammed the East Coast was in fact a derecho, experts are now claiming the weather events created a small "meteotsunami" on Tuesday night.
But what is a meteotsunami?
According to the National Weather Service, the phenomenon is similar to an earthquake-generated tsunami, but is caused by air pressure disturbances associated with a fast-moving weather system, which can generate waves in the ocean that travel at the same speed as the overhead weather system
NOAA said meteotsunamis can reach heights of 6 feet and above, but are a challenge to identify because their "characteristics are almost indistinguishable from a seismic tsunami."
An ocean buoy off the coast of Atlantic City noted a significant drop and rise in water levels between 9:48 and 10:12 p.m. Tuesday, which is when the small tsunami is believed to have occurred, CBS Philly reported.
Sarah Johnson, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service, likened this to "water sloshing back and forth in a bathtub" where "quick water increases and decreases" can be observed, NJ.com noted.
The water level fluctuations were relatively small, as in they were not big enough to cause any major damage, but it was enough to warrant acknowledgement from the National Weather Service.
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