A strong coastal storm brought power outages and some pocketed tidal flooding to the southern Ocean County area Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

The biggest surprise in the late December coastal storm was the wind, which howled through the night and downed some tree branches in certain locations.

Both Atlantic City Electric and Jersey Central Power & Light reported outages throughout Barnegat, Stafford, and Long Beach Island, but anecdotal reports suggested the outages were short. 

The wind did, however, reach hurricane force, according to one report.

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly said a wind gust of 74 m.p.h. was recorded in Brick at 9:25 p.m. The measurement is technically unofficial but considered to be accurate. It was the highest gust reported in New Jersey; Barnegat and Tuckerton were tied for the second-highest gust, at 70 m.p.h.

Area residents may not be out of the woods yet, however.

Tide predictions show Thursday's midday high tide will run above Wednesday night's.