Good morning everyone. Did you notice how humid it was this morning? Here at the GWC WX Station here in South Plainfield, the dew point was about 74 degrees at 5:30 AM! And, a feeder band from Hanna, yes, Tropical Storm Hanna passed through the area during the overnight. So, there was some rain in the form of 0.10 inches.

As I went out for my walk after 6:00 AM, I noticed windows fogged up all over even at the South Plainfield Municipal Building, which gives you a good idea of how tropical the air is at the moment. The humid air is just an indication of what is to come on this Saturday. Tropical Storm Hanna made landfall early this morning at around 3:20 AM according to the National Hurricane Center.

The storm is already moving rapidly to the North-Northeast at 22 miles per hour, and the center of circulation is some 40 miles to the East-Southeast of the capital of Raleigh in North Carolina. Winds have decreased to 50 miles per hour, but the storm is still going to pack some tropical storm force winds for the New Jersey area, especially in the form of wind gusts. Due to the rapid motion of the storm, rainfall amounts, I believe will be lower. Probably likely to be between 2 to 4 inches, but that is nothing to sneeze at. The real heavy weather should start to come into the area at about 11:00 AM this morning.

A Tropical Storm Wind Warning remains in effect for the Central Jersey area until about 11:00 PM this evening. A Flood Watch also remains in effect for the area until 11:00 PM. While the rainfall amounts forecasted have lessened, you have to take into account the fact that the ground has fairly saturated due to the wet summer we’ve had here in New Jersey.