NJ braces for rain, strong winds, power outages from Nicole

New Jersey is preparing for the impact of what's left of Tropical Storm Nicole on Friday.

The storm made landfall in Florida in Vero Beach in the overnight hours of Thursday with 75 mph winds plunging over 333,000 electric customers into darkness and threatening coastal homes already weekend by Hurricane Ian a month ago.

As the storm crosses Florida towards the Gulf of Mexico, it will turn north and follow the Appalachian Mountains toward New Jersey. Rain will develop Friday morning and get heavier in the afternoon with gusty winds.

Thunderstorms with locally heavy rains could develop Friday night before ending by Saturday morning.

The National Weather Service has posted a Wind Advisory from 11 p.m. Friday through 9 a.m. Saturday. Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects.Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages could occur.

Projected path of Tropical Storm Nicole 11/10/22 (NOAA)

Here's a timeline of the impact on the Garden State.

Friday morning/afternoon

Rain develops during the morning
Rain becomes moderate to heavy at times in the afternoon The heaviest rain will fall northwest of the Route 95 corridor
Localized flooding in areas of poor drainage is possible, especially in light of all the leaves and debris that may be blocking storm drains.

Friday evening

Rainfall rates could decrease for a time late in the afternoon and evening.
An approaching cold front could bring heavier rain late Friday night into Saturday morning
Winds could gust up to 60 mph, especially along the coast
Thunderstorms could develop with locally heavy rain and damaging winds as humidity increases
Isolated tornadoes are possible

Saturday morning

Rain comes to an end during the morning
Total rainfall: a half-inch to an inch south of the Route 95 corridor. 1-2 inches to the north
Winds gust to 35 mph in the morning
Sunny skies return with temperatures in the 60s.

New Jersey's utilities are preparing for outages brought on by Nicole

“Forecasts predict Nicole weakening substantially before moving to our area yet we’re closely monitoring the weather, particularly for southern New Jersey,” Jack Bridges, vice president of Electric Operations for PSE&G. “We are staffed and ready to respond to issues as they arise. We encourage PSE&G customers to prepare for the storm as well.”

The utility put additional staff on the schedule and checked on the availability of critical materials.

JCP&L spokesman Chris Hoenig said the utility has been also been staffing up to handle any outages.

"The current forecast wouldn't indicate widespread outages but it's obviously a possibility especially when you have wind strong enough to knock down tree limbs or rain that can weaken soil and trees topple over," Hoenig said.

New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow is on vacation this week but is keeping an eye on Nicole between rides. He returns Monday, November 14.

Read More: How Tropical Storm Nicole could impact NJ this week | https://nj1015.com/how-tropical-storm-nicole-could-impact-nj-this-week/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

Anglin's Fishing Pier is shown after it collapsed into the ocean after Hurricane Nicole arrived near near Vero Beach, Fla (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Dan Alexander is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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