Plenty of Rain, but Not As Much Dangerous Lightning, High Wind, or Hail

Only a month remains in the Summer of 2013, and Central Jersey hasn’t had the kind of severe weather that existed last summer, or the previous two summers. While there has been plenty of rain for the third summer in a row, there hasn’t been the severe thunderstorms that dominated the news back in the Summer of 2012, or even 2011 for that matter. Most of the storms that have pushed through, have only provided heavy downpours.

There have been a few exceptions. Severe thunderstorms did push through a few times this summer. Severe thunderstorms began the month of July with heavy rain. The storms on July 1st also brought high winds that took down trees in places such as Bridgewater in Somerset County. Less than a week laster, another severe weather outbreak occurred on the evening of July 7th when storms developed in Somerset County, Union County, and Essex County bringing gusty winds and dangerous lightning to towns such as Basking Ridge and Livingston.

Perhaps the most significant outbreak of the summer happened on July 20th when the longest heatwave of the summer was broken as a line of storms preceded a cold front that ushered in a more comfortable change in the weather. The storms on that Saturday evening did produce some vivid lightning and some gusty winds. There were numerous lightning strikes in and around the Raritan Bay region. As a matter of fact, one lightning strike nearly struck a person riding on water skis in Raritan Bay near Waterfront Park in South Amboy.

In the month of August, the most significant severe weather event occurred on August 13th. Here in the Central Jersey region, it was more of a rain event with rainfall totals ranging from 0.48 inches in East Brunswick to 0.76 inches in Edison. However, the storms did bring some turbulent weather further south. In the southern portion of Ocean County, near Long Beach Island, an EF0 tornado struck the Manahawkin section of Stafford Township. Residents from the area described the weather as being worse than that of Superstorm Sandy some 10 months before.

You may have to go back to the month of April for the most dangerous thunderstorms of 2013 in Central Jersey. On April 10th, severe weather blew through South Plainfield with the most vivid lightning of the year. Perhaps part of the reason that the severe weather events in New Jersey have been down this year is because there hasn’t been the same heat and humidity as it has been over the previous three years. While the month of June was the warmest since 2010, the months of July and August have been a bit cooler than the past few years. With cooler temperatures, you have less energy in the atmosphere for storms to work with.