GWC Slideshow–Hurricane Irene–August 27-28, 2011

Here is a slideshow of photos compiled from video captures of the impacts from Hurricane Irene on August 27-28, 2011. The storm was a major hurricane at one point with 120 mile per hour winds, but thankfully weakened significantly before making two landfalls in New Jersey. The hurricane was the first one since 1903 to make landfall in the Garden State, and the first to travel over part of New York City since 1893.

In South Plainfield, Irene dumped 5.34 inches of rain. Add that to a pre-storm total of 10 inches in August, and there was the worst flooding the town has seen in at least 40 years. As the storm passed nearby, the barometric pressure dropped to 28.63 inches, or 970 millibars, the lowest ever recorded at GWC. The storm went on to cause tremendous flooding along the Passaic River in Northern New York, and devastate many bridges in Vermont. Irene was retired from the list of storm names, and also ended up being the seventh costliest hurricane on record at the time.