Thousands without power, 50-mph gusts could be dangerous for drivers Thursday

TRENTON — New Jersey's latest taste of spring iwas blown out by strong gusty winds.on Thursday morning.

The entire state was under a High Wind Warning until 10 a.m. Thursday for winds of 30 to 35 mph, with widespread gusts of 50 to 60 mph.

"Lots of gusts reported over 40 mph this morning. Highest gusts so far have been 57 mph at the top of High Point and in Mantaloking" said New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow.

The wind can likely be blamed for leaving nearly 8,000 New Jersey customers without power around 11 a.m, mostly in areas served by JCP&L. The utility's outage map shows over 6.300  customers in the dark, mostly in Monmouth, Ocean Morris and Hunterdon counties. PSE&G's outage map showed around 1,300 with Atlantic City Electric's outage map with a scattering of outages.

JCP&L in a tweet said its crews are addressing scattered outages due to high winds "If you are w/o service due to the weather, please report your outage. "Steer clear of downed power lines! Report them ASAP at 888-544-4877," the utility tweeted.

NJ Transit's Morris & Essex Line and Northeast Corridor  were hard hit with trees down across the tracks in numerous locations. Late in the morning commute NJ Transit posted 20 minute delays on the Northeast while service on between Millburn and Summit was running with 30 minute delays.

NJ Transit was cross honoring rail tickets and passes systemwide as well.

A fallen power line and fire in Lower Moreland, Pa  caused service on the West Trenton line to be suspended for about an hour but was restored by 7:45 a.m.

A 60-foot tall tree fell on two school buses operated by Jay's Bus Service on White Road in Jackson, according to Jackson Police, which said that no children were on board .

"Two hands on the steering wheel will steady your ride," New Jersey Fast Traffic's Bob Williams said. "Best to pay close attention to your driving today. Be extra attentive for the surprise tree branch or debris in the roadway which could cause a driver to suddenly swerve."

Newark and the other area airports are not reporting any delays.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at dan.alexander@townsquaremedia.com.

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