Strong thunderstorms expected late Sunday night
A line of strong thunderstorms is expected to cross New Jersey late Sunday night which will have the most impact along the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95) corridor and west.
In a statement on its Facebook page, the National Weather Service's Mt. Holly office cautions the storms could have wind gusts of 50 mph that could take down some tree limbs, frequent lightning and heavy rain that could fall at a rate of 2 inches per hour leading to some flash floods.
A severe thunderstorm watch was issued for much of the state with the exception of Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Cape May, Bergen, Passaic, Hudson and Essex counties.
The line of storms is associated with a cold front and should arrive after 10 p.m., then weaken by the time it reaches the shore around 2 a.m.
The storms are already causing departure and arrival delays at Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, JFK and Philadelphia airports of 45-60 minutes according to FlightAware.com
Similar storms are expected to develop on Monday and Tuesday with damaging winds as the main threat, according to Gary Szatkowski of the NWS. As much as 3 inches of rain could fall on Monday and Tuesday.