High Wind — Eastern Atlantic, New Jersey

2010-03-13 · Eastern Atlantic, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

Strong to high winds downed thousands of trees and tree limbs, hundreds of telephone poles and caused a record breaking outage for Public Service Electric and Gas (PSE&G). Over half a million utility customers throughout the state lost power. Dozens of homes were damaged by fallen trees, a few other homes were damaged by the high winds themselves and crane damage occurred in Atlantic City. There were three reported injuries. Numerous roadways were closed because of downed trees and debris including the New Jersey Turnpike in Mercer and Burlington Counties. Amtrak suspended rail service on the 13th between Philadelphia and New York City because of downed wires. New Jersey Transit suspended its Atlantic City Line between Philadelphia and Atlantic City until the morning of the 15th because of downed poles. The authority also suspended all service west of Summit (Union County) on the 13th. PSE&G reported about 459,000 customers lost power during the storm, making it the worst storm in the utility's history. The previous record was during Tropical Storm David in September, 1979 when 432,000 customers lost power. Full restoration occurred on the 18th. About 180,000 Jersey Central Power and Light customers lost power, most of them in Ocean and Monmouth Counties. About 2,000 Atlantic City Electric customers lost power. Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on March 14th. Winds started to increase during the morning of the 13th, but reached their peak during the afternoon hours. Winds then decreased as the late afternoon and evening continued from south to north in the state.

In Atlantic City (Atlantic County), boom debris from a partially collapsed 780 foot crane at the Revel Entertainment site fell down on a four block area. A police officer was injured from the falling debris. Four stories of glass were also damaged. About 385 people who live near the crane site were evacuated for two days until the crane was lowered. Elsewhere in Atlantic City, the roof of one home was torn away, the front of a building collapsed, the roof above a cleaning establishment was partially torn away and a home under construction collapsed.

In Burlington County, overpass construction material blew onto the New Jersey Turnpike near Bordentown. This forced the closure of the turnpike between exits 4 and 7 during the afternoon. Major roadways closed because of downed trees included U.S. Route 206 in Southampton, County Route 541 in Lumberton and Hartford Road in Medford. In Mercer County, Princeton Township was hit hard. About 60 roadways were closed due to downed trees and/or flooding. Four roadways were still closed on the 15th. One driver was injured after driving into a fallen tree. A downed tree damaged a vehicle and home. In Princeton Borough, five roadways were closed and there were numerous basements that were flooded. Two people suffered carbon monoxide poisoning from their generator. Six roadways were closed in West Windsor Township. Trees also fell through homes in Hamilton and Ewing Townships.

In Somerset County, tremendous tree damage occurred in Montgomery Township. Schools were closed on the 15th as six roadways were still closed. Traffic on U.S. Route 206 was very heavy because it was the only roadway over the Millstone River that was open. Roads were also closed due to downed trees in Bernards Township, Benardsville Borough and Far Hills Borough. In Middlesex County, a large tree fell on a vehicle and injured two people. Another person was injured while chainsawing a downed tree. A tree fell onto a home in New Brunswick. The Middlesex Water Company had a 48 hour boil water notice for ten townships within the county. In Monmouth County, in Oceanport, downed trees damaged a few homes. The roof framing of a home collapsed. In Morris County, large parts of Whippany, Hanover, East Hanover and Morris Townships lost power.

Peak wind gusts included 73 mph at the Marina in Atlantic City (Atlantic County), 70 mph in Keansburg (Monmouth County), 67 mph at the Atlantic City International Airport (Atlantic County); Sandy Hook (Monmouth County), Lakehurst and Seaside Heights (Ocean County), 65 mph at Brant Beach (Ocean County), Chatsworth (Burlington County) and Monmouth Beach (Monmouth County); 63 mph in Trenton and Lawrenceville (Mercer County), Harvey Cedars (Ocean County), and at the McGuire AFB (Burlington County), 62 mph in Ocean City (Cape May County) and Perth Amboy (Middlesex County), 61 mph in Burlington (Burlington County), 60 mph in Bayville (Ocean County), 59 mph in Belmar (Monmouth County), 51 mph in Morristown (Morris County), 48 mph in Millville (Cumberland County) and 45 mph in Pittstown (Hunterdon County) and Bridgewater (Somerset County).

The high to strong winds was caused by the pressure gradient or difference between a high pressure system over the Canadian Maritimes and an intense low pressure system moving toward New Jersey from Virginia. The strongest winds occurred during the afternoon on the 13th and weakened once the center of the low pressure system came closer to New Jersey.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 222320. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.