Houston (Platts)--7Nov2012/1226 pm EST/1726 GMT

Most New York Harbor terminals have returned to operating conditions as of Wednesday but the US Coast Guard is prepping for potential disruption from a nor'easter expected later in the day.

Ninety percent of International Matex Tank Terminal-Bayonne's piers are now operational, according to a report from marine consultant Moran Shipping. The terminal expects to begin receiving ships Wednesday afternoon and has started servicing customers by rail. IMTT-Bayonne is the largest marine terminal in New York Harbor, with 16.6 million

Marine and rack operations at the neighboring Hess-Bayonne terminal are still down as of Tuesday evening, according to a Hess spokesman, and marine operations at the Edgewater, Newark and Woodbridge, New Jersey, terminals also remain down as well. The rest of Hess' marine terminals were operating regularly.

Gordon Terminal Services' Bayonne facility was not available for comment and it is unknown if it has resumed operation. As of Monday rack operations were still down there. Together, Hess-Bayonne and Gordon account for an additional 2.6 million barrels of capacity.

Another storm is expected in the Atlantic Coast area, potentially affecting New Jersey and the Delaware Bay during Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. The US Coast Guard is monitoring the situation and is prepared to restrict or even suspend operations in New York Harbor if wind speeds reach high enough, Coast Guard sector New York spokesman Charles Rowe said.

"We aren't expecting gale force winds but we are prepared for it," Rowe said. "Won't want to unnecessarily place restrictions on the port, but we base our actions on wind speed which is the single most destructive force in a port."

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is expecting a coastal nor'easter to "threaten the region in the November 7-8 time frame," with wind gusts as high as 65 mph or 55 nautical mph, with moderate coastal flooding possible in New Jersey and Delaware and precipitation potentially turning to one to four inches of snowfall, according to a Wednesday morning report from the organization.

According to Coast Guard rules, if sustained winds reach 39 mph or 34 knots, or has gusts at 46 mph or 40 knots, bunkering operations will have to cease in New York Harbor, and at sustained speeds of 40 knots cargo operations will also cease. If sustained winds reach as high as 70mph or 65 knots New York Harbor may be closed again, though the current forecast is not calling for winds that high.

The forecast had called for the storm to be somewhat weaker and further out at sea when it reached the Atlantic Coast but that trend has reversed itself and it now seems likely to be as intense as originally predicted, the NOAA report said Wednesday.

However, "forecast guidance is lower than average for this event," the report said.

--Joshua Starnes, joshua_starnes@platts.com --Edited by Richard Rubin, richard_rubin@platts.com