Wild Weather In New Jersey On Thursday

Line Of Thunderstorms Produce High Winds And Possible Tornadoes In Worst Severe Weather Outbreak Since 1998

It was quite a day in weather around the Garden State on Thursday. In what was the worst severe weather outbreak in New Jersey since the Labor Day Storm of 1998, a strong line of thunderstorms rolled through bringing high winds, hail, heavy rain, dangerous lightning, and even possible tornadoes. Despite cloudy conditions for much of the day and temperatures in the mid 70s, there was still enough moisture in the air and plenty of upper level energy to produce this severe weather outbreak.

It all started about rush hour when the skies began to darken. On a personal note, I had been at a doctors appointment yesterday afternoon, and was coming home when I noticed the skies becoming more ominous. I had a feeling something was wrong. When I got out of my car at the house, things began to pick up. I got inside, and moments later, I could hear the winds begin to kick in, and it started to thunder. Not long after that, the rain started pouring down. Immediately, I checked The Weather Channel’s Weatherscan on my Verizon FIOS. It showed a line of severe thunderstorms just blossoming over Central Jersey. There was a Severe Thunderstorm Warning stretching from Florence in Burlington County to Elizabeth in Union County.

As the wicked weather started to move east, it showed signs of rotation in spots according to Accu-Weather’s Accu-Track on WABC TV in New York’s Eyewitness News. Tornado Warnings were issued for portions of Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York. Those would eventually be cancelled while another warning was issued for Queens. There was also a Tornado Warning issued for portions of Monmouth and Ocean County. Winds gusted to between 70 and 80 miles per hour. Downed trees or tree limbs as well as power lines were the casualties. Structural damage was reported in a number of spots. Amazingly, as of this time, only one person was reported dead. The person that was killed was from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. A tree fell on her car as she was traveling on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens.

According to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, there were a total of 70 reports of severe weather on Thursday including hail, high winds, and tornadoes from Ohio and West Virginia to our neck of the woods. Of those reports, eleven were for twisters. All of those were confined to Ohio and West Virginia. The National Weather Service has not confirmed any tornadoes in New Jersey or New York although there were unconfirmed reports of twisters yesterday. If one is confirmed in New York City, it would be the ninth time since 1950 that a twister has touched down there. The last one was back in July when an EF0 tornado hit the Bronx.

Here in South Plainfield, the winds only gusted to 19 miles per hour. However, it is important to note that the Greg’s Weather Center Weather Station is not in an open area, and didn’t experience the full force of the wind. There was also only 0.48 inches of rain that fell so it appears that the storm just missed our town. However, further east in Northern Middlesex County, other communities weren’t so fortunate. According to an article in Friday’s Star-Ledger, Perth Amboy was the hardest hit. In Central and Southern New Jersey, there were an estimated 40,000 people without power. Numerous officials in Middlesex County reported funnel clouds and winds as high as 75 miles per hour.

A State of Emergency was declared by Perth Amboy’s mayor, and as of 10:00 PM last night some 3,500 people were without power there. Sections of roofs were torn off, tops of trees were blown away, other trees were uprooted, and even portion of a chimney fell. The storms brought traffic to a standstill all across the New York/New Jersey metro area. Newark International Airport experienced delays and New Jersey Transit trains were backed up as well. Traffic on the major roadways through the area were brought to a standstill, and even some high school football games scheduled for Thursday were postponed. However, the game between Highland Park and South River, covered by GMC Hoops went on as scheduled.

The weather was all a part of a frontal system that originally came through as a warm front, but then was followed by a cold front. Sparked by instability in the atmosphere, high winds aloft came down with a burst of energy that produced the severe weather. On Friday morning, the sun was out, and much more breezier and comfortable conditions were expected in the Garden State. The last widespread outbreak of this magnitude in New Jersey was back on September 7, 1998 when the infamous Labor Day Storm brought a strong line of powerful thunderstorms through much of the Garden State including South Plainfield, which had high winds reported.