One-Two Weather Punch Pummels Jersey
Weekend Storms Sock Garden State with Lots of Rain
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – A one-two weather punch pummeled Jersey during the last weekend of April 2023. New Jersey and the rest of the Mid-Atlantic had to contend with some stormy weather for the fourth time in five weeks. This time, the storminess came in twos. Two storms socked Jersey with a lot of rain. From the rush hour on Friday, April 28th until the early morning on Monday, May 1st, approximately 3.04 inches of rain fell at GWC in South Plainfield, NJ.
The first storm came in at about dinner time on Friday night and lasted into the late morning on Saturday. The storm system exceeded expectations. Northwestern Middlesex County, where GWC is located, was originally forecasted to receive between half an inch to an inch of rainfall. The first part of this one-two weather punch did better by dumping anywhere from 1.5 to 3 times as much rain with an inch and a half of rainfall.
Creeks and Streams Swelled as Pressure Fell
The extra rain caused nearby creeks and streams and Spring Lake Park to swell. There was no flooding in the neighborhoods near GWC, but it was close. Skies remained cloudy and unsettled as the second storm system, a nor’easter approached from the south and west. On Sunday the rain resumed while the barometric pressure fell dramatically. Over a span of 70 hours from Thursday night to Sunday evening, the barometer fell 1.12 inches or 37.3 millibars.
The most dramatic pressure drop occurred over the final 25 hours of this one-two weather punch pummeling Jersey. The barometer fell 0.76 of an inch or about 25.3 millibars. The nor’easter was intensifying. At the storm’s peak late Sunday night, the barometric pressure was similar to that of a Category One Hurricane at 28.98 inches of Hg or 981.4 millibars. The second storm brought another 1.54 inches including 0.83 over a span of 7 hours from 5:00 PM to midnight on Sunday.
Nor’easter Brings Brutal Second Shot
The National Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland indicated that hourly rainfall totals in Northern New Jersey and Southeastern mainland New York could end up in upwards of 2 to 3 inches. There was plenty of training going on in the Mid-Atlantic as waves of rain pinwheeled around the center of low pressure in the nor’easter. Portions of Southeastern Pennsylvania southward into Northeastern Maryland were hit hard. Meanwhile, several counties in Northeastern New Jersey: Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties had to deal with river flooding until Saturday.
There was some minor flooding in the neighborhood where GWC was located, but thankfully, it wasn’t worse. Flood waters did come close to threatening property, but the rain stopped just in time. The storm brought with it a maximum rainfall rate of 2.13 inches per hour before it finished. There were 4.95 inches of rain during the month of April at GWC in South Plainfield. Approximately 61.4 percent of the month’s rain came in its final two days.
Conditions Didn’t Improve Much Afterward
Conditions didn’t improve a great deal in the wake of the nor’easter. The second part of the one-two weather punch left behind a very large trough of low pressure over the Northeastern United States, and it didn’t move much. For the rest of the week, skies at GWC, as well as other locales around the Garden State and Mid-Atlantic, remained unsettled. The reason was due to a blocking pattern that developed. A ridge of high pressure built in near Greenland, and prevented the trough of low pressure from moving out.
As a result, skies remained quite gloomy around the area with temperatures sitting in the 50s for a good part of this past week. The barometer took its time in reclaiming what it had lost in the two storms. The pressure didn’t get back to 30 inches until Friday. Skies finally cleared on Friday afternoon and paved the way for the full moon rising in the evening. Saturday turned out to be the best day of the week with sunny skies, high pressure, and temperatures reaching into the low 70s.
The rainfall did have some benefits though. Much of the Garden State, especially Northeastern New Jersey had been experiencing drought conditions according to the most recent US Drought Monitor report issued two weeks ago. Nevertheless, the storms had hampered another April weekend. Four out of the five weekends of April 2023 had inclement weather in New Jersey. So when the sun returned this Saturday morning, it was welcomed with open arms.