NJ’s strong winds knock out power for thousands

TRENTON — The howling winds across New Jersey have brought down trees, power lines, and in one instance, roofing off a former school.

Townsquare New Jersey Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow said winds will blow at 20 to 30 mph on Monday, with gusts between 40 and 60 mph all day.

"This is a westerly wind, so driving on north-south highways might be a challenge, especially if you're in a 'high-profile vehicle' like a van or truck. Watch out for runaway garbage cans, trash, fallen branches, and trees. Scattered power outages are likely too," Zarrow said.

As of 3:15 p.m., there were over 29,000 without power across New Jersey, including:

• 24,559 JCP&L customers mostly in Hunterdon,  Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Somerset and Union counties
• 3,882 PSE&G customers mostly in Essex and Mercer counties
• 637 Atlantic City Electric customers mostly in Atlantic County

JCP&L said that its bucket crews cannot go up when winds are over 40 mph.

Debris was blown off the roof of the closed Holy Cross School in Harrison early Monday morning, according to photos posted by RLS Metro Breaking News. Some debris wound up in a soccer field across the street, according to the report.

Route 206 in Hillsborough was closed due to fallen trees and poles while a tree fell onto a windshield in Browns Mills. Route 47 was also closed in Vineland by downed wires as was Route 36 in Keyport and Route 35 in Woodbridge.

NJ Transit service on the North Jersey Coast Line was suspended

Earlier, the winds blew two trees onto the Garden State Parkway on Sunday night, northbound past the Asbury toll plaza and southbound near the Colonia service area in Woodbridge, according to National Weather Service observations, along with several downed trees in Sussex and Warren counties.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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