Heat — Eastern Ocean, New Jersey

1999-07-04 to 1999-07-06 · Eastern Ocean, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

A very strong and oppressive high pressure system that extended from the surface to aloft gave New Jersey a brutal heat wave that included the entire Independence Day weekend. There were seventeen heat related deaths and around 100 reported heat related injuries. High temperatures reached the 90s for the first time on the 3rd, but sweltering humidity and record breaking maximum temperatures of around 100 degrees occurred from Independence Day through the 6th. Even shore areas baked as a strong west to southwest wind prevented cooler air from coming in from the ocean. The combination of the temperature and humidity produced heat indices of around 110 degrees during the afternoon of each day. A cold front moved through the region early in the morning on the 7th. High temperatures reached the 90s from the 7th through the 9th in the southern half of the state, but humidity levels were lower. A stronger cold front moved through during the morning and early afternoon of the 10th and brought in a cooler and drier air mass. So, after some places in extreme southeast New Jersey had high temperatures in the 90s on the 10th, the run of 90 degree highs ended everywhere on the 11th.The heat related deaths occurred in Camden (2), Mercer (3), Middlesex (4), Monmouth (4), Ocean (3) and Somerset (1) Counties. Most of the deaths occurred to elderly persons in poor health, with no air-conditioning and inadequate ventilation. A 61-year-old man was found dead in his Mercer County fan-less apartment on the 6th after he worked all day on a landscaping job. Two persons on Long Beach Island (Ocean County) also died of heat related problems. Most of the heat related injuries were reported in Monmouth and Ocean Counties as the shore offered no relief during this hot spell. Paramedics reported a doubling of responses in those two counties. Eight very serious cases of heat exhaustion were reported in Ocean County. In Camden County, a person was treated for heat exhaustion after he spent the 6th painting the exterior of a house. Homebound senior citizens were offered fans by the city of Camden. In Gloucester County, air-conditioned public buildings were opened to residents. Parades scheduled to commemorate Independence Day were cancelled. The record heat led to record demand for electricity. Every local utility broke records. The strain overwhelmed the utilities. Starting on Sunday July 4th Conectiv Energy reported serious outages because of extraordinary demand for electricity during the holiday weekend. Hardest hit was Long Beach Island. Conectiv service personnel needed police escorts as people were getting upset as sporadic blackouts lasted into the 6th. Red Cross shelters were opened in Ocean County in Dover, Long Beach and Stafford Townships. A generator failure at Conectiv Energy's Indian River power plant contributed to the problems. GPU Energy also suffered equipment failures. Power usage peaked on the 6th as people returned to work. Utilities issued power alerts requested customers reduce consumption. Conectiv Energy instituted rolling blackouts to 40 percent of its 1.1 million customers in Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey at 1040 a.m. EDT on the 6th. GPU energy also implemented rolling blackouts. The blackouts affected 20,000 customers for 20 minutes at a time. Over 110,000 homes and businesses lost power in the state by either intentional or unintentional blackouts. Great Adventure (Ocean County) had to shut down one third of their rides for the day after the rolling blackouts affected them. Area wide, the PJM reduced voltage by 5 percent at 2 p.m. EDT on the 6th to deal with the huge demand that was straining the electrical system. Non-essential New Jersey state workers were sent home early on the 6th to reduce power consumption. Nevertheless, GPU Energy (10,063 megawatts), PSE&G (9,650 megawatts), Conectiv Energy (3,418 megawatts) and the whole The PJM Interconnection, a power pool that links electric utilities throughout the area churned out a record 52,000 megawatt hours of power on the 6th. Problems were not confined to coastal areas. In Sussex County, numerous parks periodically closed over the holiday weekend due to lack of parking and crowded swimming areas.The highest temperatures during this hot spell occurred mainly on the 5th. They included 106 degrees in New Lisbon (Burlington County). The National Weather Service investigated the thermometer and deemed it was reading correctly. Other high temperatures included 103 degrees in Pennsauken (Camden County) and New Brunswick (Middlesex County), 102 degrees in Trenton (Mercer County), Flemington (Hunterdon County), Somerville (Somerset County), Margate (Atlantic County) and Lumberton (Burlington County), 101 degrees in Belvidere (Warren County), Wertsville (Hunterdon County), Mount Holly (Burlington County) and the Atlantic City Marina, 100 degrees in Freehold (Monmouth County), Beach Haven (Ocean County) and Boonton (Morris County), 99 degrees at the Atlantic City International Airport, Belmar (Monmouth County), Wantage (Sussex County) and Wildwood (Cape May County), 98 degrees in Andover (Sussex County) and Seabrook (Cumberland County) and 97 degrees in Millville (Cumberland County). Many daily record high temperature records were either tied or set on the 5th and the 6th. Also, for many places July 5th was the hottest day in the state since July 15, 1995.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5715372. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.