
What a wild, windy day — NJ’s top wind gusts, by county
Nasty. And dangerous.
As expected, it was quite the windy and stormy day across New Jersey on this Easter Monday. My social media feeds were filled with dramatic photos and videos. Branches down everywhere. Power outages galore.
Close to the worst-case scenario, the most significant storm impacts were felt across Ocean, Atlantic, and Cape May counties. My heart breaks to anyone who suffered property damage or an extended power outage Monday. (In the midst of the coronavirus crisis, no less.)
Of course, that was on top of the 2+ inches of rain that fell over part of the state. Small hail was reported in a few places too.
For a complete recap of the storm's impacts and damage, including a photo gallery, please check out the post my colleague Dan Alexander put together earlier:
Just so you understand the vocabulary, I consider a wind gust of 40 mph to be strong. That's enough to bring down branches, cause power outages, blow around garbage cans, and make driving/walking difficult. Once a gust tops 58 mph (50 knots), it qualifies as severe. That's when we expect damage to occur.
The top wind gust recorded in New Jersey was 82 mph at an Ocean Prediction Center weather station in Island Beach State Park (Berkeley Township, Ocean County). That is extreme. (For comparison — since I know the question will be asked — Superstorm Sandy's top gust in New Jersey was 91 mph, recorded at Seaside Heights.)
I dug through our various sources of weather data to collect Monday'stop wind gust for each county in the state. The strongest winds generally occurred around Noon. Every N.J. county except Passaic had a strong gust over 40 mph. No reliable wind observations were reported in Essex or Salem counties. (Note: This data is unofficial and unconfirmed.)
Atlantic County
Atlantic City International Airport (Egg Harbor Township)... 73 mph
Bergen County
Teterboro Airport... 48 mph
Burlington County
McGuire Air Force Base... 60 mph
Camden County
Pennsauken... 49 mph
Cape May County
Cape May Harbor... 72 mph
Cumberland County
Fortescue... 58 mph
Essex County
no wind reports available
Gloucester County
Logan Township... 47 mph
Hudson County
Bayonne... 45 mph
Hunterdon County
Pittstown... 46 mph
Mercer County
Trenton... 46 mph
Middlesex County
Perth Amboy... 53 mph
Monmouth County
Port Monmouth... 52mph
Morris County
Succasunna... 47 mph
Ocean County
Island Beach State Park (Berkeley Township)... 82 mph
Passaic County
Charlotteburg... 36 mph
Salem County
no wind reports available
Somerset County
Somerville... 48 mph
Sussex County
Lafayette... 48 mph
Union County
Newark Airport (Elizabeth)... 47 mph
Warren County
Belvidere... 40 mph
The wind has since calmed down significantly, although it will remain breezy overnight. Tuesday will be generally pleasant, with partly sunny skies and high temperatures in the mid 50s. Our next chance of light rain arrives Tuesday night through Wednesday morning.
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