Good afternoon everyone. Sorry for the lack of posts, but I was working on the time lapse video of yesterday’s weather for a good part of the day, and then there were a couple of things that I had to take care of. Anyway, it was quite a night on Wednesday night with the severe weather that we had. The outbreak was the third that we had in Middlesex County and Central Jersey in just the past ten days. South Plainfield as well as the rest of Northwestern Middlesex County took a good hit from the storms, which produced a great deal of lightning.

After posting the note on the Severe Thunderstorm Watch, and my article on the warm weather that we had yesterday afternoon, I sat down and watched the radar of the Garden State closely as the line of strong to severe thunderstorms raced toward the area at rates between 40 and 50 miles per hour. It could have been a bit worse had there been more daylight left in the day, but these storms rolled through about an hour after sunset. There was still plenty of warm, moist air to tap into though, and the cold front took advantage of it.

The severe storms produced vivid lightning, gusty winds, and heavy downpours. The lightning occurred just several seconds apart, and continued for at least 45 minutes. The strongest portion of the line struck South Plainfield at about 8:00 PM last night. There was a second wave that came through about an hour later after flaring up just west of Somerville. However, it was mild in comparison. The total rainfall amount of 0.55 inches for the day was actually the highest for the month in Northwestern Middlesex County. The barometer dropped to about 29.80 last night, which is pressure that you can find in a weak tropical storm or depression. Around the area, the storms didn’t compare to the weather experienced last Thursday afternoon, but it was still significant.

An article in today’s Star-Ledger indicated that Middlesex and Monmouth counties were hit the hardest by these storms as winds were gusting between 40 and 50 miles per hour from Sayreville to Sandy Hook. Overall, there were 20,000 customers without power throughout the Garden State including 5,000 in Middlesex County. According to the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, there were a total of 178 reports of severe weather throughout the United States on Wednesday as a powerful frontal boundary over the northern third of the country is creating rough weather from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast to the Upper Midwest and Plains. Of those reports, only five came from the Garden State.

While trees were reported down in Sayreville, South Amboy, and Old Bridge in Middlesex County, there was still damage elsewhere in Jersey. Reports came in from Belle Meade in Somerset County and Flemington in Hunterdon County of numerous trees and wires down. Over in Mercer County, a wind gust of 60 miles per hour was recorded in Ewing. There was bad weather even up north in Bergen County with a tree down in Glen Rock. Trees and power lines were down in places such as Hackettstown, Mansfield, and Independence in Warren County as well. Pennsylvania was not immune either, and actually had more reports of severe weather on Wednesday night. There were nearly 40 reports alone throughout the Keystone State including many in the eastern part of the state.