Tropical Storm — Eastern Ocean, New Jersey

1996-07-13 · Eastern Ocean, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

A weakening Tropical Storm Bertha passed across eastern parts of the state on July 13th. Hurricane Bertha made landfall near Wilmington North Carolina close to 5 p.m. EDT on the 12th and moved northnortheast overnight. At 11 p.m. EDT it was 100 miles southwest of Norfolk, at 3 a.m. EDT on the 13th it was 45 miles westsouthwest of Norfolk, at 8 a.m. EDT it was 45 miles south of Dover, at 930 a.m. EDT it was in extreme northeastern Sussex County Delaware, at 11 a.m. EDT it was near Atlantic City and at 5 p.m. EDT it was over eastern Long Island Sound.One storm related death occurred on the 12th. A 41-year-old man from New Egypt drowned while surfing at Ocean Beach. Most beaches were already closed due to the rough surf and the potential for rip tides. During the morning of the 13th three Lavallette firefighters were rescued in Barnegat Bay after a one hour search. They rescued a Lavallette man who was trying to tie down his boat. It was ripped away from its mooring and began drifting into the bay. They returned him to the shore, but when they tried to retrieve his boat, the rescue boat's propulsion system became tangled by rope. While the long trip over land did weaken it, some wind related damage did occur. Wind gusts reached 63 mph in Harvey Cedars, 60 mph in Seaside Park, 55 mph in Cumberland County and 43 mph at Atlantic City International Airport in Pomona. Most of the strongest winds occurred between 6 a.m. and noon EDT. About 40,000 Atlantic Electric customers lost power. Downed wires closed Second Street in Cape May City. Some minor back bay tidal flooding occurred in Cape May County. Otherwise tidal departures were about two feet or less from normal. Only Monmouth Beach suffered severe beach erosion. Sixty feet of the one hundred twenty foot wide beach at the south of the borough was gone. This beach is one of dozens in New Jersey that was being replenished under a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project. There was little beach erosion elsewhere. Some of the heaviest rains with Bertha fell near or along the coast which included 6.59 inches in Estelle Manor, 4.56 inches in Folsom, 4.14 inches in Belleplain, 4.00 inches in Cape May County Courthouse, 3.78 inches in Hammonton and 2.07 inches in Margate. While there was urban and poor drainage flooding, no serious property or vehicular damage was reported and there were only a few water rescues of trapped motorists.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5562800. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.