The recent rains during the last two weeks of April 2007 made the month the rainiest on record for Newark, New Jersey according to a May 1st article in the Star-Ledger. In the story by Rudy Larini, National Weather Service forecaster, Tim Morrin, stated that this month was indeed a record breaker. Morrin, who works at the NWS office in Upton, New York, which covers several counties in Northeastern New Jersey including Union, Essex, Hudson, Bergen, and Passaic said, “a record 11.85 inches of rain fell last month, surpassing the old mark of 11.14 inches in April 1983.”

Much of that rainfall came from a rare mid-April Nor’easter that brought up to nine inches in some parts of the Garden State while another storm dumped three to five more inches just a few days ago. The Nor’easter left several people dead, and approximately $180 million in damage while numerous communities such as Bound Brook and Manville in Somerset County, Fairfield in Essex County, Lodi in Bergen County, and Paterson in Passaic County were under water for several days to a week after the storm.

Nearby in New York City, it was the second wettest April on record, and fifth wettest month overall. There was over 13 inches of rain in Central Park including 8.47 inches of rain falling on April 15th and 16th. Meanwhile, here at Greg’s Weather Center in South Plainfield, New Jersey, there was about 8.68 inches of rain during the Month of April including 0.91 inches on April 12th, 4.3 inches from the Nor’easter, and 3.52 inches on April 27th. The month of May started out wet as well. A storm system moved in on late Tuesday night (May 1st) and brought 0.86 inches of rainfall including 0.58 falling on Tuesday night, and another 0.28 falling on Wednesday morning. The record breaking rainfall in April has put New Jersey well above average for the year. To put things in perspective, conditions could be absolutely dry until July 4th, the state would still have above average rainfall. Dry weather is expected for the time being with temperatures, which began in the mid 60s, moving up into the low 70s on Tuesday, and rising well into the 70s by the end of the forecast period. Next chance of rain is on Friday.

According to the Star-Ledger article, Morrin explained that the reason for the above normal and record setting rainfall was “a stubborn high pressure zone that stalled over the northern Atlantic for much of the month.” When there is a blocking pattern such as an Omega block, high pressure sits in an area near Greenland called the Davis Strait. This ridge serves as the blocking mechanism because it prevents low pressure systems from escaping into the Atlantic. Without the presence of this high, low pressure systems usually head to the northeast as the migrate toward the Icelandic Low. Blocking patterns such as this one are key ingredients for powerful Nor’easters that can linger up to several days like this recent storm did. Morrin not only believes that this blocking pattern was “much more persistent than normal,” but also was only recently “showing signs of breaking down.” Hopefully, the wonderful weather of the past week is an indication that he is right.