Flood — Morris, New Jersey

2010-03-13 to 2010-03-21 · near Sterling, Morris, New Jersey

Event narrative

In Morris County, this was the highest flooding along the Passaic and Pompton Rivers since April of 1984. Both rivers had crests within the top five. In Pequannock, about 300 people were evacuated and 1,000 homes were affected by the flood waters. Two shelters were opened. The A&P Shopping Center was under water. Boat rescues were performed along three blocks. Residents returned to their homes by the 19th. New Jersey State Route 23 was closed. In Lincoln Park, about 260 residents were evacuated. Two Bridges Road and U.S. Route 206 to Wayne were still closed on the 17th. In Long Hill Township, eighteen roads were closed, several were still closed near the Passaic River on the 17th. The central business districts and nearby residents were affected the hardest. Schools did not reopen until Wednesday the 17th. In Boonton, a retaining wall collapsed onto Main Street. The Rockaway River flooded in Denville. Passaic River flooding forced the closure of a couple of roads in East Hanover. The heavy rain caused a breech in the dam at Lake Shawnee in Jefferson Township.

The Rockaway River above the Boonton Reservoir was above its 5 foot flood stage from 1018 p.m. EST on the 13th through 5 p.m. EDT on the 16th. It crested at 6.81 feet at 230 p.m. EDT on the 14th. This was the 3rd highest crest on record and the highest crest since April of 1984. The Rockaway River below the Boonton Reservoir was above its 5 foot flood stage from 715 p.m. EST on the 13th through 1001 p.m. EDT on the 17th. It crested at 8.12 feet at 7 p.m. EDT on the 14th. This was the 4th highest crest on record and also the highest crest since April of 1984. The Pompton River at Pompton Plains was above its 16 foot flood stage from 920 p.m. EST on the 13th through 10 p.m. EDT on the 16th. It crested at 22.78 feet at 515 p.m. EDT on the 14th. This was the second highest crest on record only surpassed by April of 1984. The Pequannock River at Macopin was above its 5.5 foot flood stage from 330 p.m. EST on the 13th through 5 p.m. EDT on the 16th. It crested at 7.6 feet at 430 a.m. EDT on the 14th.

The Passaic River at Millington was above its 8 foot flood stage from 1005 p.m. EST on the 13th through 907 a.m. EDT on the 17th. It crested at 9.38 feet at 330 a.m. EDT on the 15th. Farther downstream, the Passaic River at Chatham was above its 6 foot flood stage from 446 p.m. EST on the 13th through 6 p.m. EDT on the 19th. It crested at 7.91 feet at 715 a.m. EDT on the 15th. This was the 7th highest crest on record and the highest crest since September of 1975. Farther downstream, the Passaic River at Pine Brook was above its 19 foot flood stage from 7 a.m. EDT on the 14th through 830 p.m. EDT on the 21st. It crested at 22.32 feet at 915 a.m. EDT on the 16th. This tied April of 2007 as the 3rd highest crest on record.

The East Ditch at Beaver Brook Road was above its 3.9 foot flood stage from 1145 p.m. EST on the 13th through 554 a.m. EDT on the 14th. It crested at 4.3 feet at 550 a.m. EDT. The Whippany Creek at Morristown was above its 6 foot flood stage from 946 p.m. EST on the 13th through 1141 a.m. EDT on the 14th. It crested at 6.45 feet at 415 a.m. EDT on the 14th.

Event precipitation totals included 5.72 inches in New Vernon, 5.52 inches in Chatham and 3.95 inches in Boonton.

Wider weather episode

Four days of rain, heaviest on the 13th, culminated in major flooding in the Passaic and Raritan Basins and flooding throughout New Jersey. Four day storm totals averaged around 2.5 to 6 inches with the highest amounts in the Raritan and Passaic Basins. It was the worst flooding in the Raritan Basin since April of 2007 and the worst flooding in the Passaic Basin since April of 1984. Over 1000 people were evacuated in Morris and Somerset Counties. Damage was estimated at 30 million dollars as thousands of homes and businesses were damaged. In Morris County alone, about 1,300 homes and businesses were damaged. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency on March 14th. Periods of rain started during the morning of the 12th and fell at its heaviest on the 13th. The heaviest rain fell during the morning in the southern third of the state, afternoon in the central part of the state and in the afternoon into the evening in the northern third of the state. Periods of lighter rain persisted into the 14th and 15th which slowed the recession of streams and rivers in the area..

The heavy rain was caused by a slow moving low pressure system that had a tremendous fetch of moist air from the Atlantic Ocean. The low pressure system moved from the South Carolina coast on the morning of the 12th, into Virginia on the morning of the 13th, to Delaware on the morning of the 14th and then drifted slowly east over the next two days as it was captured by an upper level system.

The flooding occurred on the weekend when eastern daylight time began. Some of the river flooding started on Eastern Standard Time and ended on Eastern Daylight Time, we apologize for any confusion this causes.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.6508, -74.5206)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 222421. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.