Flood — Morris, New Jersey

2007-04-15 to 2007-04-23 · near Gillette, Morris, New Jersey

Event narrative

The heavy rain and stream and river flooding forced about 1000 people to be evacuated throughout Morris County. About half of those evacuated still could not return to their home as of April 26th. Evacuations occurred in Lincoln Park, Pequannock, Parsippany, Denville, Hanover and East Hanover. In addition, about 100 businesses along New Jersey State Route 23 suffered flood damage.

In Lincoln Park, flooding along the Pompton River severely affected the borough. About 1000 homes were damaged with water up to five feet in some homes. Twenty-four roads were closed. There was no access to New Jersey State Routes 23 and Interstate 80. Two Bridges Road was expected to be closed into May. In Pequannock Township, about 100 residents were evacuated near the Pompton River. About 400 homes were damaged. New Jersey State Route 23 was closed. In Parsippany Township, the Partridge Run Apartments on New Road near the Rockaway River was evacuated. The Lake Hiawatha neighborhood was also evacuated. About 450 homes and apartments were flooded, with 120 needing repairs. In Hanover Township, a few roads were closed including New Jersey State Route 10. A landslide occurred behind an office complex. The buildings were not damaged. The Whippany River flooded. Whippany River flooding also forced flood waters into the backyards and basements in Morristown. In Netcong, several residents and businesses were evacuated around the Railroad Avenue Way. In Denville Township, flooding along the Den Brook and Rockaway River closed many roads. In Montville Township, roads and properties were flooded in the Pine Brook area along the Passaic River. In Randolph Township, Shongum Lake overflowed.

The Rockaway River at Boonton Above the Reservoir was above its 5 foot flood stage from 745 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 837 a.m. EDT on the 18th. It crested at 6.69 feet at 1115 a.m. EDT on the 16th. This was the 3rd highest crest on record and the highest since January 25th, 1979. The Rockaway River at Boonton Below the Reservoir was above its 5 foot flood stage from 809 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 401 p.m. EDT on the 19th. It crested at 8.09 feet at 1230 p.m. EDT on the 16th. This was the 4th highest crest on record and the highest since April 6th, 1984. The Passaic River at Chatham was above its 6 foot flood stage from 219 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 445 a.m. EDT on the 21st. It crested at 7.45 feet at 2 a.m. EDT on the 17th. Farther downstream, the Passaic River at Pine Brook was above its 19 foot flood stage from 958 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 125 p.m. EDT on he 23rd. It crested at 22.32 feet at 131 a.m. EDT on the 18th. It was the 3rd highest crest on record and the highest since April 7, 1984. Farther downstream, the Passaic River at Two Bridges was above its 9 foot flood stage from 1012 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 615 p.m. EDT on the 23rd. It crested at 15.01 feet at 1200 a.m. on the 18th. It is now the highest crest on record. The Pequannock River at Macopin Dam was above its 5.5 foot flood stage from 625 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 815 a.m. EDT on the 18th. It crested at 6.38 feet at 1200 p.m. EDT on the 16th. The Pompton River at Pompton Plains was above its 16 foot flood stage from 843 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 112 p.m. EDT on the 18th. It crested at 21.72 feet at 600 p.m. EDT on the 16th. It was the highest crest since April 6, 1984. Farther downstream, the Pompton River at Midwood was above its 8.5 foot flood stage at 500 p.m. EDT on the 15th. It crested at 15.5 feet at 100 p.m. EDT on the 16th. The gage became stuck and did not record when the river went below flood stage. The Whippany River at Morristown was above its 6 foot flood stage from 312 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 1033 a.m. EDT on the 16th. It crested at 6.79 feet at 1130 p.m. EDT on the 15th. The East Ditch at Beaver Brook was above its 3.9 foot flood stage from 340 p.m. EDT on the 15th through 229 a.m. EDT on the 17th. It crested at 5.3 feet at 2 a.m. EDT on the 16th.

Precipitation totals included 5.84 inches in Parsippany, 5.22 inches in Charlotteburg, 4.82 inches in Randolph, 4.60 inches in Oak Ridge, 4.49 inches in Boonton, and 4.14 inches in Netcong.

Wider weather episode

An intense nor'easter brought heavy rain and flooding to New Jersey that started on the 15th. The worst flooding occurred along the Raritan and Passaic River Basins. It was the worst flooding in the Raritan Basin since Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Bound Brook and Manville were once again hit hard as were communities on the other side of the Raritan River in Middlesex County. Along the Passaic Basin, Lincoln Park also was hit hard. The nor'easter also brought strong to high winds as well as some snow to the state on the 16th. Numerous streams and rivers flooded, but the flooding along the Delaware River was minimal.

Statewide damage was estimated at $180 million dollars. It was the second worst rain storm (not related to a hurricane) in the state's history. Acting Governor Richard J. Codey declared a state of emergency on the 16th. About 5,000 people were evacuated in 11 of the state's 21 counties. At one time over 70 major roadways and interstates were closed including New Jersey State Routes 20, 23, 38, 46, 70 and 73 as well as U.S. Route 30 and Interstates 80 and 380. There were over 700 traffic accidents indirectly caused by the flooding and heavy rain. Three people in the state drowned. The strong winds caused about 120,000 homes and businesses in the state to lose power. Power was not completely restored until the 18th. The combination of the snow, wind (power outages) and flooding caused many school districts to either cancel classes or have delayed openings on the 16th. Even Rutgers University was closed on the 16th and 17th. In the Raritan Basin, school closings lasted into the week of April 23rd. The nor'easter was so nasty that even the Internal Revenue Service extended the tax deadline for 48 hours in affected areas. The heavy and flooding rains was expected to delay the spring planting on farms. Garden center and nursery business which was already slow because of the unseasonably cold weather was dealt another set-back. Twelve counties in the state were declared federal disaster areas and included Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris and Somerset Counties.

Rain began falling throughout the area during the late evening on the 14th. It started briefly as snow over some of the higher terrain of Susse County. The rain fell at its heaviest from about 3 a.m. EDT on the 15th to about 3 a.m. EDT on the 16th. As the upper air disturbance moved across New Jersey, the rain did change to snow for a couple of hours around sunrise on the 16th and accumulated about an inch or two on grassy areas in western New Jersey. The steady precipitation ended during the afternoon and early evening on the 16th. Event precipitation totals averaged 3 to 6 inches. Event snowfall totals were an inch or two in most areas, mainly on grassy areas.

The strongest winds occurred as the nor'easter pulled northeast of the region on the 16th from the early morning into the afternoon. The combination of the heavy rain, even some snow and the winds helped knock down numerous trees and power lines. Peak wind gusts averaged between 40 and 60 mph.

The nor'easter low pressure system initially formed in the southern Rockies on the 12th and moved to Arkansas on the morning of the 14th. At 8 p.m. EDT on the 14th, there were two low pressure systems, one in Kentucky and the other in western Alabama. The southern low pressure system became the predominate one overnight and at 8 a.m. EDT on the 15th, it (996 millibar low) was located in western North Carolina. As the 15th continued, it moved northeast and intensified rapidly. At 2 p.m. EDT the nor'easter (989 millibars) was near Raleigh, North Carolina. At 8 p.m. EDT, the nor'easter was a 979 millibar low pressure system near Virginia Beach, Virginia. Another low pressure system formed on its warm front during the afternoon over Chesapeake Bay and at 8 p.m. EDT it (982 millibars) was over extreme southwest New Jersey. The lows consolidated into one again overnight and a very intense 973 millibar low pressure system was located over Monmouth County, New Jersey at 2 a.m. EDT on the 16th. At 8 a.m. EDT on the 16th the nor'easter was down to 968 millibars and located over New York City. That was a drop in central pressure of 28 millibars in 24 hours which qualified it as a meteorological bomb (a drop in central pressure of at least 24 millibars in 24 hours) low pressure system. The nor'easter bottomed at a pressure of about 966 millibars (28.53 inches) at 11 a.m. EDT just south of Long Island, New York. To put into prospective how low the pressure was with this nor'easter, that central pressure is near the border of the pressure defined category 2 and category 3 hurricane once used on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. As the 16th continued, the nor'easter weakened and meandered across southwest New England and the New York and New Jersey coastal waters. By 2 a.m. EDT on the 17th, the nor'easter's central pressure rose to 988 millibars and a second storm formed on the triple point of its fronts south of Nova Scotia. This became the main low pressure system. The low pressure system then slowly moved southeast over the next couple of days. The heaviest precipitation fell as the low pressure system was rapidly intensifying on the 15th into the early part of the 16th. The strongest winds ceased after the low pressure system started to fill on the afternoon of the 16th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (40.6700, -74.4700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 26676. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.