NJ Forest Fire Service Helps Clean-up after June 16th Landslides in Warren County NJ

Direct link to video from CBS NewYork on YouTube

Heavy rain in a section of Warren County NJ on Sunday afternoon June 16th resulted in a landslide on US Rte 46 along with road flooding and mudslides in nearby Belvidere, NJ. As I write a stretch of US Rte 46 in Warren County NJ remains closed. New Jersey Advance Media has been reporting on these landslides and floods in Warren County, NJ, see their July 18th article for more information specific to the landslides and mudslides. New Jersey Advance Media reported on homes in Belvidere NJ that are uninhabitable following the June 16th storm. I got information on the location of the road closures (both lanes) of US Rte 46 in Warren County from the July 18th article on New Jersey Advance Media so I could save a map from Google Earth for you; the highway is closed from Upper Serapta Road to Route 519/Hope Bridgeville Rd. Note that US Rte runs along the Delaware River just north of Upper Serapta Road to the I-80 interchage.

Clean-up from the landslides and mudslides is still ongoing as I write this. The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has deployed some of their firefighters to help with this clean-up.

Reflections on a little rain during a drought

 

This is the current Drought Monitor Map for the area covered by the NWS Philadelphia/Mt Holly Weather Forecast Office. We have had some beneficial rains over the last week, some of which may not be reflected in this map. I do not know enough to know what the situation will be when the next Drought Monitor Map is issued, will there be a slight change for the better? I am not a Meteorologist, but I suspect that we need several beneficial rainfalls before we come out of the drought. However, I along with my trees and other greenery are grateful for the rain. I am not letting up on my efforts to conserve water.

What I do know is that last weeks beneficial rains and perhaps today's rains mean that the wildland firefighters in my area got a bit of break. According to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, fire danger today is low (map is updated daily, as it was last week following the beneficial rains (what you see will likely be different as conditions change). While I am grateful that the fire danger in New Jersey has been low the last few days, it is no time to be complacent. Wildfires can still happen. the crews of the NJFFS have not put away their equipment and trucks, they are still on call if the need should arise. 

I thank the wildland firefighters of the NJ Forest Fire Service and those in adjoining states for your service. Stay safe.

Remembering Hurricane Agnes 50 years later (part 2)

I continue with remembering Hurricane Agnes 50 years later by embedding two videos from WBAL11 in Baltimore. In the first video you will see pictures and recollections from survivors highlighting some of the destruction from Agnes. In the second video you will hear about how weather forecasting has changed in 50 years. But first see the map below where I have circled Havre de Grace and Ellicott City, just two of the towns devastated by flooding from Hurricane Agnes.

Direct link to video from WBAL11 on YouTube

Direct link to video from WBAL11 on YouTube

Remembering Hurricane Agnes 50 years later (part 1)

I was in my late teens when Hurricane Agnes bought devastating flooding to the Mid-Atlantic United States. I do remember all the rain, and was fortunate that I did not personally experience the flooding. I have never lived in Pennsylvania but I do recall hearing about the devastating flooding in that State as well as in New York, Maryland, and Virginia. 

 

Direct link to video (part 1) from PennLive on YouTube

Direct link to video (part 2) from PennLive on YouTube

The Capital Weather Gang of the Washington Post wrote a nice article about Agnes on June 19th. It is my intention to make a gift of this article for fourteen days from the date of this post, hopefully eliminating the paywall for that period, if you are arriving after July 6th there may be a paywall. If you can, please take the time to read the article. Agnes first made landfall on the Florida panhandle then moved inland up the coast before emerging into the Atlantic off North Carolina where it eventually merged with another weather system. Agnes continued up the east coast making it last landfall on Long Island on June 22, 1972. There was major flooding on many rivers in the Mid-Atlantic, some of those records still stand today. Damages were $3.1 billion, 128 people died and tens of thousands of people homes were severely damaged by flood waters or destroyed.

Please, turn around and do not drown. Pay attention to warnings from your weather service if a hurricane, tropical storm or major rain event is headed your way. Sign up with your local emergency management agency to receive phone calls and text alerts if a significant storm is headed your way and heed their warnings.

The National Weather Service collaborated with other agencies in developing a website commemorating the 50th anniversary of Agnes, including event summaries, pictures, stories from survivors, and flood mitigation after Agnes. There is a lot of good material on the website and I understand that this website will be permanent. You can spend a lot of time on the website, so if you are so inclined you may want to bookmark the page for later viewing. Here is the direct link to the 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Agnes website.

Agnes ravaged the Eastern US in late June 1972. At the time, it was the most destructive tropical cyclone in American history. Rainfall from Agnes caused catastrophic inland flooding, with an immense geographic scale. Access the commemoration site here: https://t.co/YpWpO7Oqqi pic.twitter.com/cy7AwglSZN

— NWS Mount Holly (@NWS_MountHolly) June 22, 2022

NJ Task Force 1 update (Sept 8)

When I posted on September 1 about the deployment of NJ Task Force 1 to the gulf coast region, I did not know that the NJ-TF1was demobilized  on August 31st to return to NJ to help with the remnants of Ida. I had read in a couple of news articles online that the NJ-TF1 was back in NJ helping with search and rescue and other storm recovery. I finally checked out the NJ Office of Emergency Management Facebook page and found the post about their demobilization. 

To the women and men of the NJ-TF1, I am honored by your national service in time of need. As a New Jersey resident, I am very grateful that you are here in New Jersey helping with search and rescue and other storm response after the devastation caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ida on September 1st leaving many areas in central New Jersey with catastrophic flooding. I thank-you for your service as we in New Jersey are working to clean-up and recover from Ida. 

The video that I have embedded below is from NJ Advance Media showing flooding in one town, Somerville and Raritan New Jersey. Scenes like this were all to common last week.

Direct link to YouTube video from NJ Advance Media

Post Isaias in New Jersey - thank-you utility linepersons and treeguys

Three days after Tropical Storm Isaias slammed New Jersey, adjoining states and New England, portions of New Jersey are still without power. I won't get into the details here, most of you have probably seen local or national news reporting on Isaias. 

I took a drive around my part of the State to see if I could find a stopped utility truck to take some photos for you. I passed five on local highway but as I was driving, I was unable to take a photo for you. Then there were about four utility trucks (by the colors of the trucks I think that they were from out of state) that passed my house yesterday, including one that stopped after my power was turned back on. They were making repairs on an outage near my house, necessitating shutting off my power for a little over an hour. I was not thinking nor was a wearing a mask, so I thanked the lineman from a distance, and did not think to ask him if I could take a photo of his truck.

I drove by the staging area a few miles from my house for utility crews. I did enter, wanting to respect Covid restrictions. Covid restrictions probably explained why I did not see utility trucks parked on breaks. 

Just before going home, I did see a utility truck parked at an intersection near an outage that was reported by the local utility. So I grabbed a not so great photo for you. Perhaps later this weekend I will be able to get some more photos for you, or perhaps not.  I know that utility crews have come from out of state to help restore power. There is a lot of tree damage around the state, I saw a lot of downed trees on people's lawns as well as cut-up trees near areas where I knew there were outages. The tree guys have to come first to take care of the trees before the utility linemen can work on restoring power.

I write this and show this not so great photo of just one utility truck as a way of thanking all of the local and out of state crews (utility crews and tree removal crews)who are helping us in New Jersey (and adjoining states) get our power back.  This utility truck is one of hundreds helping us. 

I also want to thank the New Jersey Forest Fire Service Crews who have been working in our parks cutting trees that came down in Isaias.

Thank-you. Thank-you. Thank-you

Marcal Paper Plant (Elmwood Pk, NJ) burns down in wind driven fire

I usually do not write about structure fires, but due to the wind driven nature of the fire, I am making an exception in writing about the loss of the iconic Marcal Paper Plant in Elmwood Park (Bergen County), New Jersey. If any of you have ever driven on Interstate 80 in New Jersey, you may have passed the Marcal plant with it's cool red lighted sign.

Image from Google Earth Pro, street view (August 2018)

I believe that the fire started sometime on January 29th. Because fires were somewhat common at Marcal because of the highly combustable paper, Marcal had an in-house group of firefighters. At some point they called for mutual aid from the nearby towns.  The fire continued into January 30th. Then everything changed when a wind driven snow squall hit sometime between 3:25 PM and 3:50 PM.


Direct link to video from Tommy Gee Videos

I am familiar with the snow squall as it hit my town about an hour before, the winds kicked up with white out conditions. The snow squall only lasted about 10 or 15 minutes but it ushered in an arctic cold front with sustained winds of 20 to 25 mph and gusts up to 50 mph. I wanted to give you an idea of the winds that afternoon, so I called up the National Weather Service at Upton NY whose forecast area includes Bergen County. One of their Meteorologists gave me wind data for Teterboro Airport (KTEB) which is located about 5 miles southeast of the Marcal Plant. While not wind data for Elmwood Park, this wind data will give you an idea of the type of winds the firefighters were dealing with. Any errors in the data are mine.

Note the uptick in the winds at 3:51 PM, shortly after the snow squall passed through. For more information about the conditions the firefighters were facing, by this time it was a 10-alarm fire, read this NJ dot com article (with photos). Elmwood Park Fire Chief, Michael Sulick told NJ Advance Media (for NJ dot come) what happened when the squall hit:

Firefighters in Elmwood Park felt they were making progress against the fire in “Building 41” of the sprawling Marcal Paper campus, pushing back the flames with four lines, like they had done so many times over the decades.

Then, from the west, the squall hit, unleashing fierce winds that pushed the fire towards the sky. Within minutes, the 86-year-old plant, packed with combustibles, erupted into a raging inferno that continued to burn nearly a day later. 

“The roof caught fire, we heard cracking, we automatically pulled everyone out at that point,” Elmwood Park Fire Chief Michael Sulick said. “It just went downhill from that point on.”

The plant was burned to the ground. No firefighters were injured, and nearby residents were evacuated. I am not sure about damage to nearby residences.

When I lived in northeastern New Jersey almost 20 years ago, I frequently drove on that section of Route 80. The Marcal paper plant was an old friend, and I remembered their paper products. Five hundred people employed at Marcal are without jobs, Elmwood Park is grieving the loss of Marcal. I am saddened by the loss of the Marcal Plant, but I am very glad that no lives were lost and that most of the destruction appears to have been contained to the Marcal Plant complex.

Kudos to all the fire companies that responded, some of whom may have been volunteers.


Direct link to video on youtube from NJ dot com

Excessive rain and flooding on East Coast USA

While wildfires have been burning in the western United States, areas of the Eastern United States have seen excessive rainfall the last month or so. There is a nice overview of the excessive rainfall in the Eastern United States in this June 25th article from the Washington Post (limited free articles per month due to pay wall. I really liked the article and for this reason I am sharing the article here.The article, by Tim Craig and Angela Fritz provides a nice overview of the recent heavy rains, a map, some photos, and interviews with those affected. For those of you who do not subscribe to the Washington Post and have some free articles left, I hope that you take the time to read the article. For those of you who are unable to view the article, I apologize.

What is on my mind as I think about areas of the East Coast which have seen heavy rains is that while the East Coast is seeing a lot of rain, areas out west are seeing a drought, see the areas in red and dark red on the map below.

Wildfire season is underway out West and wildfire activity is starting to ramp up. See for example these articles by Bill Gabbert of Wildfire Today: June 22nd on new fires in Oregon and June 25th on the Pawnee Fire in Lake County California; an ABC News video update on 52 wildfires burning in the USA and finally an NBC News report on preparations by various agencies to fight summer wildfires.

Back to the excessive rainfall in areas of the East Coast USA.

Knowing that I was sharing an article from the Washington Post with limited free views per month, I wanted to have some other information to share with you about the recent rains in areas of the East Coast. So I looked to the National Weather Service Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center. Here is today's Graphical Daily Briefing from the NWS Middle Atlantic River Forecast Center (MARFC). note the map (30 Day Rainfall Departures from average). The areas in purple (30 day rainfall greater than 75 percent above average) are in Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland. That is a lot of rain. I have heard various news reports over the last month of areas of flooding, mud slides, etc. I have been living on the East Coast USA my whole life, and this amount of rainfall is extraordinary.  Of course not all of the MARFC forecast area has shared in this excessive rainfall, some areas are close to average. Note the areas with less than average 30 day rainfall in extreme northern New Jersey, adjacent areas of New York, and northern Pennsylvania.

I called up my friends at the Middle Atlantic River Forecast and told them about the article that I am posting today. I asked my friend from MARFC for a representative River that has seen excessive flooding. First he made a point of telling me the Potomac River Basin had seen excessive rains recently, but not recent enough to show on their hydrographs (shows recent and forecast river levels as measured by a gage). The River he told me that had seen major flooding late last week is the Rapidan River near Culpepper Virginia.

There is a gage on the Rapidan near Culpepper Virginia, you may access information about the Rapidan near Culpepper including a hydrograph showing river levels measured by the gage for the last five days. I have copied today's hydrograph for you so that you may see the major flooding of last week, 23.7 feet above flood stage. Depending on when you are accessing this article, the hydrograph you see online will be different. Anyway. note in the graph below that the Rapidan started at about two feet late in the day on Wednesday, June 20th, rising to 23.7 feet by Friday, June 22nd. River levels had dropped below flood stage by Saturday June 23rd. If you look at historic crests on the Rapidan at Culpepper page from MARFC (click more information, not yet updated as I write this) you will see that the June 22nd flood of the Rapidan is in the top ten.

Finally, I wanted to give you an idea of rainfall that occurred in Virginia for the 24 hour period ending on June 22nd, so I went to the CoCoRaHS, Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network. Volunteers from around the USA record rain, snow, and hail data and send it to CoCoRaHS daily around 7:30 AM. This precipitation data is used by the National Weather Service and others. I refer to CoCoRaHS data frequently to get an idea of rainfall in my State and other areas I am interested in. I found a nice map for you showing rainfall in Virginia on June 22nd. As I understand it, the rainfall is for the preceding 24 hours. A CoCoRaHS reporting station near Culpepper VA recorded 4.24 inches of rain with Madison VA, to the west of Culpepper recording over 6 inches of rain during the same period.

Time out: update and ongoing projects

I wrote this post a couple of days ago, in advance of nor'easter # 4, just in case. Some areas in New Jersey had near or just over a foot of snow. I measured 9.6 inches. Power outages near the shore, with scattered outages inland.

I suspect, but I may be wrong, that the New Jersey Forest Fire Service probably did not have prescribed burning scheduled for the end of this week because of the weather. New Jersey Forest Fire crews are available for post-storm clean up New Jersey State Parks and Forests I continue to follow the wildfire season in the southern great plains. If you are wondering what is going on, the Oklahoma Forest Service has a fire news blog where the OFS posts their current and past daily situation reports, the current OFS Daily Situation Report may be found here.

The Texas A&M Forest Service has a wildfire and disasters web page where you will find links to the current wildfire situation as well the weekly wildfire potential. The Texas A&M Forest Service has a  twitter page.

Finally don’t forget the reports available from the Southern Area Coordination Center’s intelligence page under southern area products.

I am almost always working on other projects for this blog, so I will continue doing background research on one project in particular. It is too early to say more. Stay tuned.

I do have a post of a different nature lined up for Monday, March 26th where I am sharing some videos showing prescribed burns.

Time out - thank-you linemen for restoring power in NJ

As many of you know from reports on various media outlets, New Jersey and environs in adjoining Pennsylvania and New York have seen two nor'easters in the last several days with one more on the way tonight. Unless the storm tonight takes a turn to the west, this storm is likely to have a more severe impact on Eastern Long Island and Southern New England.

These two nor'easters, one on March 2nd and the second on March 7th hit New Jersey and environs hit New Jersey hard with 200 to 300,000 outages or more during each storm. Crews were not quite finished restoring power from the March 2nd storm when the second nor'easter hit. Utility crews from around the country came to help restore power. So, I want to take a time out from my usual blogging to say that I am ok, I get through the storm better then some in my area of New Jersey.

Before getting back to the utility crews, I would be remiss not to give a shout out to the New Jersey Forest Fire Service (NJFFS). I know that sometimes NJFFS crews help with post-storm clean up in New Jersey State property.  I do not know whether are not NJFFS have been helping with such post-storm clean up. At the very least I want to acknowledge that they are ready and willing to do so should their help be required.

But more importantly and to the point is to thank the utility crews for spending days away from their families working 16 hour shifts. See this March 12th report from First Energy on restoration efforts in their service area in New Jersey (where I live). Most of those who lost power during the March 2nd storm had the power restored by Saturday, March 10th with the majority of the remaining outages being restored to service on March 11th.

There were a couple of staging areas for utility crews, where crews from out of state could sleep in trailers, take showers, and eat in a common dining area. In addition supplies including but not limited to utility poles, wires, and transformers were at these staging areas. New Jersey Advance Media. New Jersey Advance Media (aka NJ dot com) had a nice photo spread on March 8th that included images of destruction caused by the most recent storm along with photos from one of the utility staging areas. That photo spread and article may be found here with photos of the utility staging area starting at photo 24 through photo 36. I don't have my own photos to share with you, but I do hope that you take a few moments to look at the photos from NJ Advance Media.

Thank-you all utility linemen, support crew, etc. who worked so hard to restore power to us in New Jersey and adjoining states. You work is appreciated. You spent time away from your families working long days to help us out. Stay safe.

March 2nd Nor'easter

Many of you no doubt know about the nasty nor'easter that hit the east coast of the United States from Virginia to Maine last Friday, March 2nd. Tens of thousands of folk are still without power as I write this. I am still here. I do sometimes pause and post about notable weather events that impact my corner of the world. No, this time, I do not have no photos of utility workers that are working around the clock to restore power. I decided that best thing that I can do for those working to clean up tree debris and restore power is to stay out of the way. Moreover, I saw enough of those wonderful utility workers after Super Storm Sandy to last me a while, many were working within walking distance of my house.

I want to thank the staff of my National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office at Philadelphia, Mt. Holly for the great work they did in giving us the best information that they could to keep us informed of the nasty storm so that we may be as safe as we can. In addition, I want to thank the staff at the following National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) for their forecasts: State College Pennsylvania, Gray/Portland Maine, Burlington Vermont, Boston/Taunton Massachusetts,  Albany New York, Binghamton New York, New York, NY (Upton), Baltimore/Washington, and Wakefield, Virginia. Some WFO's were not as severely impacted as others, but I believe that all I named here were keeping an eye on the nor'easter. There are two National Weather Service River Forecast Centers that keep an eye on their rivers and harbors that cover the region that I just mentioned, the Northeast River Forecast Center and the Midatlantic River Forecast Center. The River Forecast Centers work with each of the National Weather Service Weather Forecast Offices in their regions. All of these WFOs and River Forecast Centers were involved in forecasting the March 2-3 Nor'easter. I hope that I included all Weather Forecast Offices and River Forecast Centers that were involved with this Nor'easter.. Thanks all of my friends at the National Weather Service for working hard in sometimes difficult circumstances to be sure that your residents have the best possible weather information (that often changes as the hours go by) so that we may as safe as possible.

I think that the best video that I can share is one that some of you may have seen on CNN (on March 3rd, I believe) of a plane that was not able to land at Reagan National Airport in Arlington Virginia on March 2nd in the strong winds, starting at about 25 seconds into the March 3rd video report.


Direct link to CNN video on youtube

Here is the last Public Information Statement from the NWS Weather Forecast Office at Philadelphia/Mt. Holly for the March 2nd Nor'easter, you may or may not be interested in the snow fall totals. But you might be interested in the peak wind gusts listed after the snowfall reports. I copied this from their website which is why the background colors are not consistent. The yellow highlighting is mine.

000
NOUS41 KPHI 031800
PNSPHI
DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-040600-

Public Information Statement
Spotter Reports
National Weather Service Mount Holly NJ
100 PM EST Sat Mar 03 2018

The following are unofficial observations taken during the past 53
hours for the storm that has been affecting our region. Appreciation
is extended to highway departments, cooperative observers, Skywarn
spotters and media for these reports. This summary also is available
on our home page at weather.gov/phi

********************STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL********************

LOCATION          STORM TOTAL     TIME/DATE   COMMENTS
                     SNOWFALL           OF
                     /INCHES/   MEASUREMENT

DELAWARE

...New Castle County...
   Talley Brook           1.3   810 PM  3/02  DEOS
   Greenville             0.8   800 AM  3/03  DEOS
   Claymont               0.6   812 PM  3/02  DEOS
   New Castle County Ai   0.1   700 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Hockessin                T   800 AM  3/03  DEOS
   Prices Corner            T   800 AM  3/03  DEOS

NEW JERSEY

...Atlantic County...
   Hammonton              3.2   745 PM  3/02  Co-Op Observer
   Estell Manor           2.9   800 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   1 WNW Hammonton        2.5   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   3 SE Folsom            2.0   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   4 SW Egg Harbor City   1.4   750 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Atlantic City Intl A   0.8  1205 AM  3/03  ASOS

...Burlington County...
   2 SSE Medford Twp      1.5   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Tabernacle             1.4   800 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Marlton                1.2   500 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   1 SSW Moorestown Twp   1.1   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Mount Laurel           1.1   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 SE Southampton Twp   1.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Moorestown             1.0   827 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   5 WNW Tabernacle Twp   0.8   830 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Cinnaminson Twp.       0.7   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Maple Shade            0.5   505 PM  3/02  Public
   Mount Holly WFO        0.5   700 PM  3/02  NWS Office
   2 E Burlington         0.2   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Camden County...
   4 W Winslow Twp.       2.5   730 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Cherry Hill            2.0   845 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   4 SW Somerdale         1.3   700 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   Mount Ephraim          1.0   725 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Cape May County...
   1 NNW Woodbine         0.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Cumberland County...
   Newport                1.3   600 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter

...Gloucester County...
   South Harrison Twp     3.5   815 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   4 WSW Turnersville     3.2   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Mantua                 3.0   454 AM  3/03  Storm total.
   West Deptford          2.5   630 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   1 WNW Turnersville     2.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   East Greenwich Twp.    2.0   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 SE Monroe Twp.       1.0   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Hunterdon County...
   2 NE Byram             4.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Frenchtown             3.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   3 ESE Alpha            3.1   630 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 SSE Annandale        2.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Lebanon                1.8   730 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   3 E Flemington         1.0   826 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   Readington             0.5   350 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter

...Mercer County...
   2 NW Hopewell Twp.     0.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   3 NNW Trenton          0.2  1159 PM  3/02  CoCoRaHS
   Ewing                  0.2   340 PM  3/02  Meteorologist
   Hamilton Twp           0.1   500 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter

...Middlesex County...
   3 NE South Brunswick   0.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Monmouth County...
   Clarksburg             3.3   930 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Howell                 2.8   825 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Colts Neck             2.6   745 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   1 E Colts Neck Twp     2.6   800 PM  3/02  CoCoRaHS
   3 W Howell Twp         2.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   9 NE Lakehurst         2.0   701 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Freehold               2.0   800 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   9 SSW Long Branch      1.3   705 PM  3/02  CoCoRaHS
   5 SW Long Branch       0.6   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   1 SW Long Branch       0.4   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Morris County...
   Green Pond            11.8   400 AM  3/03  Trained Spotter
   Randolph Twp          11.3   730 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Jefferson Twp         10.6  1045 PM  3/02  CoCoRaHS
   Lake Hopatcong        10.0   640 PM  3/02  Amateur Radio
   Mount Arlington        9.0   830 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Schooleys Mountain     9.0   315 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Mine Hill Twp. ENE     8.2   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Marcella               8.0  1030 PM  3/02  Elevation 820 feet.
   3 S Green Pond         8.0   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 SW Randolph Twp      8.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Mine Hill Twp.         8.0   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Rockaway               6.0   700 AM  3/03  Public
   7 ESE Stanhope         6.0   615 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   4 W Washington Twp.    5.8   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Roxbury Twp.           5.8   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Chester Twp ENE        5.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 E Randolph Twp.      5.0   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 E Randolph Twp       5.0  1000 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Denville               4.3  1030 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Ledgewood              2.0   442 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   2 W Mendham            1.9   845 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 ESE Denville Twp     1.9   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   3 NNW New Providence   1.0  1000 PM  3/02  CoCoRaHS
   5 W Fairfield          0.5   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Ocean County...
   3 SSE Berkeley Twp.    2.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Lakehurst              1.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Point Pleasant Beach   0.3   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 NNE Brick Twp.       0.2   900 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Somerset County...
   1 NNE Peapack And Gl   4.0   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   3 ESE Bedminster Twp   1.0   600 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 ENE Franklin Twp.    0.5   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   4 ENE Franklin Twp     0.4   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   4 SE Hillsborough Tw   0.3   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   3 NE Franklin Twp.     0.3   600 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Sussex County...
   Branchville           16.5  1030 PM  3/02  Elevation 1200 FT
   Montague              15.8   211 AM  3/03  Trained Spotter
   Highland Lakes        14.0   800 PM  3/02  Elevation 1400 FT
   High Point            13.5   235 PM  3/02  Elevation 1500 FT
   Vernon Twp            11.0   530 PM  3/02  Barry Lakes
   3 SE Hardyston Twp     8.2   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   3 N Wantage            8.0   410 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Stockholm              7.0   237 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Vernon Valley          5.5   530 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   1 NNE Sussex           2.3   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Warren County...
   Oxford                 6.0   415 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Allamuchy              6.0   748 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Hackettstown           5.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   4 NE Hope              3.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Stewartsville          3.1   800 AM  3/03  Social Media
   2 E Alpha              3.1   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Bridge                 2.7   700 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   Riegelsville           2.0   700 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer

PENNSYLVANIA

...Berks County...
   Huffs Church           2.1   400 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   2 WNW New Morgan       0.5   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 ESE Fleetwood        0.2   806 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Bucks County...
   2 NW Perkasie          6.1   926 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   Chalfont               5.5   800 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Furlong                2.7   600 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Penndel                1.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Trevose                1.0   600 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   1 E Oakford            1.0  1200 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   3 NNE Langhorne        0.7   630 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Carbon County...
   Albrightsville         5.5  1220 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Jim Thorpe             2.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Chester County...
   Berwyn                 7.0   520 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Downingtown            4.6   700 PM  3/02  Social Media
   East Nantmeal          3.3   630 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Devault                2.5   816 PM  3/02  DEOS
   West Chester           2.5   817 PM  3/02  DEOS
   Warwick                2.3   800 AM  3/03  DEOS
   Chester Springs        1.6   800 AM  3/03  DEOS
   Glenmoore              1.2   700 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   Pughtown               0.6   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   3 SW Chads Ford        0.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Delaware County...
   Wayne                  9.5   700 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Villanova              9.0  1200 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Newtown Square         7.0   700 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Media                  6.0   700 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Thornton               5.6   625 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Lansdowne              4.4   825 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Springfield            4.3   800 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Broomall               3.2   350 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Chadds Ford            2.2   645 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter

...Lehigh County...
   Fogelsville            6.0  1200 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Salisbury Twp          4.1   700 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   2 S Emmaus             4.0   430 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   S Allentown            4.0   620 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Lehigh Valley Intl A   3.7   700 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Allentown              2.5   212 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   1 ESE Neffs            0.7   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Monroe County...
   Coolbaugh Twp         23.6   800 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Tobyhanna             20.0   510 PM  3/02  Broadcast Media
   Mount Pocono          17.0  1000 AM  3/03  Trained Spotter
   Blakeslee             15.0   200 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Pocono Summit         12.0   939 AM  3/03  Trained Spotter
   1 NE Bossardsville     7.1   930 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Bartonsville           7.0   715 PM  3/02  Social Media
   1 N Rossland           4.4   706 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Montgomery County...
   Bryn Mawr              9.5   740 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Plymouth Meeting       9.0  1200 AM  3/03  Social Media
   North Wales            8.0   830 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Wyndmoor               7.0  1000 AM  3/03  Social Media
   3 SW Lansdale          6.7   900 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Lansdale               5.5   645 PM  3/02  Social Media
   8 ESE Schwenksville    5.0   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Green Lane             4.5   800 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Graterford             4.4   730 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Wynnewood              4.3   430 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   3 ESE Skippack         3.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Site 2                 3.5   700 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   Wyncote                3.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   2 WSW Schwenksville    2.8   800 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   1 WSW North Wales      2.5   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   King of Prussia        2.3   800 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Tylersport             1.5  1000 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Gilbertsville          1.3   730 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   1 W Conshohocken       1.0   700 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer

...Northampton County...
   Hellertown             6.0   400 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Bethlehem              5.6   330 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Cherry Hill            5.5  1020 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Easton                 4.3   700 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Martins Creek          3.2   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS

...Philadelphia County...
   Philadelphia           3.0   200 AM  3/03  Northeast Philadelphia
   Pencoyd                2.5   330 PM  3/02  6ABC Studios
   Fox Chase              2.2   800 AM  3/03  Social Media
   Rockledge SE           2.2   730 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Franklin Institute     2.0   930 AM  3/03  Co-Op Observer
   5 NE Philadelphia      2.0   700 AM  3/03  CoCoRaHS
   Somerton               2.0   415 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Philadelphia Intl Ai   1.5   700 PM  3/02  ASOS

***********************PEAK WIND GUST***********************

LOCATION             MAX WIND     TIME/DATE   COMMENTS
                        GUST            OF
                         MPH    MEASUREMENT

DELAWARE

...ANZ455...
   1 SE Dewey Beach        62  1126 AM  3/02  54 knots.

...ANZ470...
   NDBC Buoy 44009         69   700 PM  3/02  60 knots.

...Kent County...
   Dover                   62   349 PM  3/02  AWOS

...New Castle County...
   Wilmington New Castl    58   254 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Middletown              58   421 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Blackbird               52   509 PM  3/02  RAWS
   Townsend                46   510 PM  3/02  DEOS

...Sussex County...
   Lewes                   66   749 AM  3/02  ROUTE 1
   Lewes NOS               66   848 PM  3/02  NOS-NWLON
   Dewey Beach             62  1151 AM  3/02  WXFLOW
   Greenwood               54   316 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Sussex County Airpor    49  1203 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Redden                  49   208 PM  3/02  RAWS
   Georgetown              47   135 PM  3/02  DEOS
   Milton                  46  1235 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Seaford                 46   310 PM  3/02  DEOS

MARYLAND

...Cecil County...
   Fair Hill               63   306 PM  3/02  Mesonet
   North East              56   405 PM  3/02  DEOS
   Chesapeake City NOS     51   354 PM  3/02  NOS-PORTS

...Queen Anne``s County...
   Bay Bridge Airport      47   655 AM  3/02  AWOS

...Queen Annes County...
   Grasonville             64   417 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Stevensville            52   155 PM  3/02  AWOS

...Talbot County...
   2 E Oxford              54   551 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Easton/newnam Field     48  1250 PM  3/02  AWOS
   Easton Newman Airpor    46   750 AM  3/02  AWOS

NEW JERSEY

...ANZ431...
   Brandywine Shoal NOS    74   830 PM  3/02  64 knots.
   Cape May NOS Buoy       68  1148 AM  3/02  59 knots.

...Atlantic County...
   Atlantic City Intern    61   123 PM  3/02  ASOS

...Burlington County...
   McGuire AFB             51   500 PM  3/02  AWOS
   Moorestown              46   915 PM  3/02  NJWXNET

...Camden County...
   Pennsauken              56   345 PM  3/02  NJWXNET

...Cape May County...
   Dennisville             71   248 PM  3/02  Shingles off home.
   Cape May                71   418 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   Cape May NOS            68  1148 AM  3/02  NOS-NWLON
   North Wildwood          57  1052 AM  3/02  WeatherFlow
   West Cape May           57   455 PM  3/02  NJWXNET
   Ocean City              55   829 PM  3/02  NONFEDAWOS
   Cape May Point          54   100 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Woodbine                51  1230 PM  3/02  NJWXNET
   Cape May County Airp    51   203 PM  3/02  AWOS
   Sea Isle City           50   600 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Dennis Twp.             47  1100 AM  3/02  NJWXNET

...Cumberland County...
   Fortesque               60  1205 PM  3/02  NJWXNET
   Newport                 54   200 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Millville Municipal     54   404 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Upper Deerfield         46   600 PM  3/02  NJWXNET

...Gloucester County...
   Washington Twp          65   255 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Piney Hollow            59  1024 PM  3/02  NJ-MESONET
   West Deptford           46   330 PM  3/02  NJWXNET

...Hunterdon County...
   Lebanon                 71   600 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Readington              53   620 PM  3/02  NONFEDAWOS
   Clinton                 50  1249 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   White House Station     46   440 PM  3/02  NONFEDAWOS

...Mercer County...
   Lawrenceville           62   500 PM  3/02  Social Media
   Mercer County Airpor    54   420 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Mercerville             49   529 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Hopewell Twp.           48   520 PM  3/02  NJWXNET

...Middlesex County...
   South Plainfield        65   500 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Perth Amboy             55   226 PM  3/02  WXFLOW

...Monmouth County...
   Keyport                 54   600 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Sea Girt                53   805 PM  3/02  NJWXNET
   Port Monmouth           53   259 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Monmouth                47   634 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   North Middletown        46   235 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Sandy Hook              46   845 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   Allaire Airport         46   351 PM  3/02  AWOS

...Morris County...
   Morristown              49  1145 AM  3/02  AWOS

...Ocean County...
   Harvey Cedars           62   635 PM  3/02  NJWXNET
   Tuckerton               59   543 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   Seaside Heights         58   725 PM  3/02  NJWXNET
   Rutgers                 58   247 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   Mantoloking             55   751 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   Trixies                 53   828 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   Barnegat Inlet          52   500 PM  3/02  USGS
   Waretown                51   830 PM  3/02  CWOP

...Somerset County...
   Somerset Airport        49   631 PM  3/02  ASOS

...Sussex County...
   High Point Monument     48  1125 AM  3/02  NJWXNET

PENNSYLVANIA

...Berks County...
   Fleetwood               59   321 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Reading Regional Air    58   238 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Lenhartsville           54   239 PM  3/02  CWOP

...Bucks County...
   Perkasie                51   237 PM  3/02  NONFEDAWOS
   Nockamixon              49   323 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   Yardley                 48   332 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Newton                  48   455 PM  3/02  CWOP
   Doylestown Airport      47   158 PM  3/02  ASOS

...Chester County...
   West Grove              60   305 PM  3/02  DEOS
   Coatesville             53   355 PM  3/02  AWOS
   Marsh Creek             52   651 PM  3/02  WXFLOW
   4 NW Ladenberg          50  1245 PM  3/02  CWOP

...Delaware County...
   Newtown Square E        56   721 PM  3/02  CWOP

...Lehigh County...
   Lehigh Valley Intl A    60   520 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Queen City              51   635 PM  3/02  AWOS
   4 SE Claussville        46   155 PM  3/02  CWOP

...Monroe County...
   Pocono Mountains Mun    60   130 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Pocono Pines            48   540 PM  3/02  CWOP

...Montgomery County...
   Pottstown Limerick A    46   512 PM  3/02  ASOS

...Northampton County...
   Bushkill Center         60  1152 AM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Cherry Hill             58   800 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Beersville              50   115 PM  3/02  Trained Spotter
   Danielsville            47   213 PM  3/02  CWOP

...Philadelphia County...
   Northeast Philadelph    62   313 PM  3/02  ASOS
   Philadelphia Intl Ai    59  1024 PM  3/02  ASOS

USAF Hurricane Hunter flies winter storm (March 12)

In the course of learning and then writing about Hurricane Hunters last year, see for example this post, I learned that the Hurricane Hunter aircraft will sometimes fly reconnaissance missions into winter storms to gather information that can go into the weather models. Last Friday I saw a couple of references that such a Hurricane Hunter Recon flight was planned for this past weekend.
I know that I saw a couple of other references to this Hurricane Hunter recon flight. Unfortunately, I failed to bookmark these references.

Some of you may recall that there is a nice website that tracks reconnaissance flights into the Atlantic by NOAA's and the USAF's Hurricane Hunters, Aerial Reconnaissance in the North Atlantic. Wanting to find out a little more that I could share with you, I went to Aerial Reconnaissance in the North Atlantic and then to their Recon Archives, and looked under non-tasked missions in 2017. I found what I was looking for:

Mar.12th, 00.38Z, Track66, flown by AF304 (US Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron).

If you look at the list of flights under non-tasked missions in 2017, you will see that you have the option to either look at a map in Google Earth or in Cesium (that you can access with most but not all browsers). I used Cesium to get some screen shots for you.

Here is a partial list of archived flights for you:

obtained on March 13, 2017, 2:45 PM EDT from http://tropicalatlantic.com/recon/recon.cgi?basin=al&non_tasked=2017

Here are a couple of shots from Cesium (represented by the icon on the far right in the last column:

The flight of AF304 is represented in orange. Obtained on 3/13/17from http://tropicalatlantic.com/recon/recon.cgi?basin=al&year=2017&identifier=Track66&mission=02&agency=AF&aircraft=304&month=03&day=12&mapping=cesium

And here is a close up view where you can see icons that represent dropsondes and the hourglass icons represent observations:

Finally I selected a dropsonde observation for you. I could only get a small portion of the data for you in this screen shot.

Obtained on 3/13/17from http://tropicalatlantic.com/recon/recon.cgi?basin=al&year=2017&identifier=Track66&mission=02&agency=AF&aircraft=304&month=03&day=12&mapping=cesium

As a resident of New Jersey, one of the many states that will be impacted by this major winter storm tonight into tomorrow, I want to thank AF304 and her crew from the USAF 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron for flying this storm and getting data on the storm that can only be obtained from the air. I know that this data went into the weather models used by the National Weather Service. Your flight on our behalf matters! Thank-you again and stay safe!

Blizzard of January 2016 - coastal flooding and beach erosion

No, I am not here to write about snow from the Blizzard of January 2016 that impacted much of the Mid-Atlantic in the USA. The Blizzard, which hit during a full moon, brought very high tides during three tide cycles. This resulted in coastal flooding and beach erosion.

Please take the time to read the article from the Washington Post (with photos and videos) of January 24th (from the Capital Weather Gang) which provides a nice overview of what went on in the Mid-Atlantic in addition to the Washington D.C. area.

Photo Galleries of January 23-22, 2016 Blizzard:

• From NJ.com focusing on beach erosion in Monmouth and Ocean Counties NJ
• Coastal flooding in the Wildwoods (Cape May County, NJ) from The Press of Atlantic City
• Flooding along the Bayshores in Cumberland County NJ from The Daily Journal

Weather Balloons

I am sure that many of you in the United States know that the much of the east coast is experiencing a snow storm. If you are interested in knowing what is going on in a particular area of the east coast, just go to the National Weather Service.

I woke up this morning to no heat, fortunately the technician came almost first thing in the morning and it was up and running by 11:30 AM. Wish us luck. I am not quite sure what this storm will bring us. I am about 60 miles inland. Nonetheless, we are under a blizzard warning until early Sunday morning. I am hoping to set a couple of blog entries to post automatically into next week, just in case. Murphy's law and all that. [Comment added on December 14, 2016: for those who might be arriving at this post in late 2016 or after, I measured 23 inches of snow during the January 22-23rd snow storm. A lot of snow and we had good help with snow removal. We remained powered during and after the storm.]

Anyway, I got the idea for today's post (January 22, 2016) because a nearby National Weather Service Office (NWS), New York, NY launched extra weather balloons last night and today because of the upcoming storm. Let me backtrack a bit. Several National Weather Service offices around the country launch weather balloons twice a day with a radiosonde. The radiosonde measures and transmits air pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and wind speed. The NWS New York, NY is one of the NWS offices that launches balloons. Not every NWS office launches a balloon, mine in Mt. Holly does not. But Mt. Holly will get the balloon data from NWS offices that launch balloons. Among other things, the data from the balloons are used in the weather prediction models used by the NWS. For more information on weather balloons go to this NWS page. 

You may read about the extra balloon launches by the NWS New York, NY here and here.

Here are a couple of videos from the NWS New York, NY on their balloon launches.

Direct link to video

Direct link to video

I could be wrong, but I believe that the National Hurricane Center's Hurricane Hunter Aircraft may have flown into the low pressure system that is now bringing snow to the eastern seaboard. 

Remembering Winter Floods of January 1996 (Pennsylvania)

Some of you know that I have gotten interested in weather because of my interest in aviation and wildland firefighting. While this is not a weather blog, I do like to post articles from time to time on weather events. I don’t believe that I have posted an article on an historical weather event, but I feel compelled to do so today. Before I get to the point of this article, I will briefly set the stage by offering some memories of some snow and rain storms in January 1996. 

Being that I have been living in New Jersey for quite awhile, there are certain weather events that stand out to me. One of those was a Blizzard on January 6-7, 1996. I was not in New Jersey at the time, rather I was driving to northern New England that day to visit some relatives, literally playing tag with the northern edge of the Blizzard until I got north of Springfield, MA. I spent about 4 days in northern New England where this snow storm dumped only a couple of inches. However, like many, I followed the Blizzard on TV. I knew that the Blizzard dumped 2 feet plus of snow in the greater New York City metro area, shutting almost everything done for two to four days depending on your location. When I got back to New Jersey sometime the following the weekend (on or about January 13th), there was still a significant amount of snow left along with some very impressive snow drifts. I had no driveway so usually parked on the street in front of my apartment. But no street parking was to be had. Fortunately, a nearby neighbor had room in their driveway and let me park there. 

A few days later, probably on January 18-19, 2016, it warmed up and the snow melted, and it rained. If memory serves, the town and the residents were pretty good at removing the snow from the storm drains so the snow melt had a place to go. At least the water had a place to go where the storm drains were uncovered. I recall being inconvenienced by the urban street flooding. But it was not a big deal.

Not so in other areas in the Mid-Atlantic. I do recall hearing about major flooding in Pennsylvania and upstate New York, among other places in the Mid-Atlantic. I remember thinking that I was pretty darn lucky. Those floods are now known as the Winter Floods of January 1996. The NWS Mid-Atlantic River Forecast Center (NWSMARFC) provides river and hydrologic forecasts many of the areas flooded that January. See the map on the NWSMARFC home page for a map. 

In remembrance of the 20th anniversary of the Winter Floods of January 1996, the NWSMARFC and the NWS State College, Pennsylvania has put together a nice webpage about the Winter Floods of January 1996, you may want to check out their additional links for more information. I am focusing here on Pennsylvania. New York, Virginia and to a lesser extent New Jersey were among the areas affected by these floods. The stage for these floods was set by some 30 to 40 inches of snow in areas of Pennsylvania during the Blizzard of January 6th and 7th. On January 19th temperatures warmed up to the low 60s and it rained, a lot of rain with winds gusting up to 38 mph. The snowpack was already melting because of the high temperatures and when you add 3+ inches of rain to that, problems ensued. The Rivers rose to and beyond flood levels. Add to that ice jams on the Rivers and the stage was set. Twenty lives were lost in Pennsylvania and damage from these floods was in the a billion dollars in Pennsylvania alone. Many bridges were damaged. (For more information see a USGS report on the January 1996 floods in Pennsylvania and this report from the Susquehanna River Commission).

I know a little about different types of ice jams on rivers from being an ice observer for my local NWS office, see for example this webpage on different types of ice jams from the NWS office in Great Falls Montana. Ice jams can be very dangerous and can cause damage to bridges and other infrastructure in or adjoining a river. I know enough to stay off a frozen river, including a river with ice jams. 

When I saw a video of the partial collapse of the historical Walnut Street Bridge over the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg during the Winter Floods of January 1996, I knew that I had to write this article and share this video with you (embedded at the end of this article). I am not a hydrologist nor am I expert in ice jams, and I am not an engineer. However in watching the video it seems to me that the ice jam on the Susquehanna probably lead to a partial collapse of the bridge that was already weakened by Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972. If you want to read more learn the Walnut Street Bridge go here (Bridgehunter.com) to see a nice photo gallery of the Bridge before and after the 1996 floods, some history of the Bridge, and an embedded google map. You might also want to check out this blog article on the Bridge written by a blogger who visited Harrisburg and took some photos of the Bridge in January 2015.

To the best of my knowledge, the damaged sections of the Walnut Street Bridge have not been repaired to date. 

Please stay safe this winter, stay off of ice-covered rivers and stay well away from a river with an ice jam. 

Direct link to video

Flooding rains in Long Island (NY)

direct link to report with video

Continuing, more impressive rainfall totals on Long Island, NY. Looking at report below from the NWS New York office, 13.10 inches of rain (storm total) at Mac Arthur Airport on Islip (Long Island) NY. Much of it occurring in a three hour period from 4:56 AM to 7:56 AM.

I hope this is a link to a current map from the NWS of rainfall and flooding reports on Long Island. This is the first time that I have linked (on 8/13/14 at 9:55 AM EDT) to this particular mapping display. I believe that the rainfall observations are good only for the preceding 24 hour period from when I accessed the map. I'll keep an eye on this link and will update or delete later as necessary.

000
NOUS41 KOKX 131234
PNSOKX
CTZ005>012-NJZ002-004-006-103>108-NYZ067>075-078>081-176>179-140034-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
SPOTTER REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
834 AM EDT WED AUG 13 2014

THE FOLLOWING ARE UNOFFICIAL OBSERVATIONS TAKEN DURING THE PAST 15
HOURS FOR THE STORM THAT HAS BEEN AFFECTING OUR REGION. APPRECIATION
IS EXTENDED TO HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS...COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS...SKYWARN
SPOTTERS AND MEDIA FOR THESE REPORTS. THIS SUMMARY IS ALSO AVAILABLE
ON OUR HOME PAGE AT WEATHER.GOV/NYC

********************STORM TOTAL RAINFALL********************

LOCATION          STORM TOTAL     TIME/DATE   COMMENTS
                     RAINFALL           OF
                     /INCHES/   MEASUREMENT

CONNECTICUT

...FAIRFIELD COUNTY...
   BRIDGEPORT AIRPORT    1.34   800 AM  8/13  ASOS
   DANBURY AIRPORT       0.78   703 AM  8/13  ASOS

...NEW HAVEN COUNTY...
   NEW HAVEN             2.03   702 AM  8/13  ASOS
   MERIDEN               0.75   800 AM  8/13  ASOS

...NEW LONDON COUNTY...
   GROTON AIRPORT        2.17   820 AM  8/13  ASOS

NEW JERSEY

...BERGEN COUNTY...
   TETERBORO             0.56   706 AM  8/13  ASOS
   WESTWOOD              0.54   645 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER

...ESSEX COUNTY...
   NEWARK AIRPORT        0.58   800 AM  8/13  ASOS
   CALDWELL AIRPORT      0.41   800 AM  8/13  ASOS

...HUDSON COUNTY...
   NORTH BERGEN          0.83   745 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER

NEW YORK

...KINGS COUNTY...
   MIDWOOD               1.34   706 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER

...NASSAU COUNTY...
   WANTAGH               7.84   825 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   MERRICK               6.81   749 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   BELLMORE              5.20   830 AM  8/13  PUBLIC
   LONG BEACH            4.64   729 AM  8/13  PUBLIC
   PLAINVIEW             4.61   640 AM  8/13  PUBLIC
   SYOSSET               4.01   658 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   FLORAL PARK           2.80   745 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   BAYVILLE              2.63   730 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   MALVERNE              0.98   700 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER

...NEW YORK COUNTY...
   CENTRAL PARK          0.70   800 AM  8/13  ASOS

...ORANGE COUNTY...
   MONTGOMERY AIRPORT    0.65   800 AM  8/13  ASOS

...QUEENS COUNTY...
   NYC/JFK AIRPORT       3.19   800 AM  8/13  ASOS
   NYC/LA GUARDIA        0.77   800 AM  8/13  ASOS

...SUFFOLK COUNTY...
   ISLIP AIRPORT        13.10   800 AM  8/13  ASOS
   HOLBROOK             10.82   703 AM  8/13  NWS EMPLOYEE
   ISLIP                 9.80   715 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   DEER PARK             8.30   830 AM  8/13  PUBLIC
   RONKONKOMA            8.20   640 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   FARMINGVILLE          7.73   800 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   CENTEREACH            5.93   730 AM  8/13  NWS EMPLOYEE
   EAST FARMINGDALE      4.93   800 AM  8/13  ASOS
   MEDFORD               4.45   800 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   CENTERPORT            3.18   700 AM  8/13  CO-OP OBSERVER
   UPTON                 1.74   800 AM  8/13  NWS OFFICE
   STONY BROOK           1.59   515 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   SHIRLEY AIRPORT       1.15   800 AM  8/13  ASOS
   WESTHAMPTON AIRPORT   0.68   800 AM  8/13  ASOS
   1 NNE MONTAUK         0.14   800 AM  8/13  ASOS

...WESTCHESTER COUNTY...
   WHITE PLAINS AIRPORT  0.85   800 AM  8/13  ASOS


**********************24 HOUR RAINFALL**********************

LOCATION              24 HOUR     TIME/DATE   COMMENTS
                     RAINFALL           OF
                     /INCHES/   MEASUREMENT

CONNECTICUT

...FAIRFIELD COUNTY...
   3 SSE BROOKFIELD      0.67   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

...MIDDLESEX COUNTY...
   3 WSW EAST HAMPTON    0.93   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

NEW JERSEY

...BERGEN COUNTY...
   1 W TENAFLY           0.71   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS
   WNW OAKLAND           0.16   720 AM  8/13  COCORAHS
   1 ESE OAKLAND         0.08   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

...ESSEX COUNTY...
   1 SE MAPLEWOOD TWP    0.72   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS
   1 NE CEDAR GROVE TWP  0.62   600 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

...HUDSON COUNTY...
   N HARRISON            0.58   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

...UNION COUNTY...
   1 NE WESTFIELD        0.73   645 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

NEW YORK

...NASSAU COUNTY...
   W FLORAL PARK         2.53   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

...PUTNAM COUNTY...
   8 NE COLD SPRINGS     0.14   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS
   4 ESE BEACON          0.08   620 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

...QUEENS COUNTY...
   1 SW MIDDLE VILLAGE   1.43   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

...RICHMOND COUNTY...
   1 SE STATEN ISLAND    0.73   730 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

...WESTCHESTER COUNTY...
   2 NW SOUTH SALEM      0.72   700 AM  8/13  COCORAHS

$$

JP

---

Flooding rains in South Jersey and adjoining States

direct link to video

Very impressive rain totals in southern NJ, Deleware, Maryland, and Long Island. Reports of 5 to 9 inches of rain in those areas.

000
NOUS41 KPHI 131048
PNSPHI
DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-132248-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
SPOTTER REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
648 AM EDT WED AUG 13 2014

THE FOLLOWING ARE UNOFFICIAL OBSERVATIONS TAKEN FOR THE STORM THAT
AFFECTED OUR REGION. THIS SUMMARY IS ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR HOME PAGE
AT WEATHER.GOV/PHI

********************STORM TOTAL RAINFALL********************

LOCATION          STORM TOTAL     TIME/DATE   COMMENTS
                     RAINFALL           OF
                     /INCHES/   MEASUREMENT

DELAWARE

...NEW CASTLE COUNTY...
   GLASGOW               3.42   500 AM  8/13  DEOS
   BLACKBIRD             3.08   345 AM  8/13  MESONET
   MIDDLETOWN            3.05   700 PM  8/12  TRAINED SPOTTER
   NEWARK                2.71   500 AM  8/13  DEOS
   NEW CASTLE            2.65   500 AM  8/13  DEOS
   WILMINGTON AIRPORT    2.51   200 AM  8/13  ASOS

MARYLAND

...CECIL COUNTY...
   ELKTON                2.68   930 PM  8/12  TRAINED SPOTTER

...KENT COUNTY...
   ROCK HALL             4.60   850 PM  8/12  SOCIAL MEDIA
   GALENA                3.64   545 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   1 SE BETTERTON        3.17   715 PM  8/12  MESONET

...QUEEN ANNE`S COUNTY...
   ROMANCOKE             8.47   100 AM  8/13  NWS EMPLOYEE
   CENTREVILLE           7.60   240 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   CENTREVILLE LANDING   6.06   930 PM  8/12  MESONET
   STEVENSVILLE          3.57   930 PM  8/12  MESONET

NEW JERSEY

...ATLANTIC COUNTY...
   ESTELL MANOR          6.17   630 AM  8/13  CO-OP OBSERVER
   ATLANTIC CITY AIRPOR  5.58   200 AM  8/13  ASOS
   MULLICA TWP           4.14   500 AM  8/13  NJWXNET
   OCEANVILLE            3.93   230 AM  8/13  MESONET
   SOMERS POINT          2.40   500 AM  8/13  PUBLIC

...BURLINGTON COUNTY...
   CHATSWORTH            4.76   230 AM  8/13  MESONET
   TABERNACLE            2.04   300 AM  8/13  PUBLIC

...CAMDEN COUNTY...
   BLUE ANCHOR           3.96   230 AM  8/13  MESONET

...CAPE MAY COUNTY...
   WOODBINE              2.68   345 AM  8/13  MESONET

...CUMBERLAND COUNTY...
   MILLVILLE AIRPORT     8.94   300 AM  8/13  ASOS
   NEWPORT               8.60   400 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   1 NW LEAMINGS MILL    6.40  1145 PM  8/12  MESONET
   2 SSE NORTH VINELAND  5.22  1145 PM  8/12  MESONET
   1 SE RAMMEL MILL      4.33  1145 PM  8/12  MESONET
   GREENWICH             2.49   230 AM  8/13  MESONET

...GLOUCESTER COUNTY...
   3 W FRANKLIN TWP      5.19  1230 AM  8/13  COCORAHS
   WASHINGTON TWP        2.91   110 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER

...MONMOUTH COUNTY...
   MANASQUAN             5.83   515 AM  8/13  MESONET
   WALL TWP              4.94   500 AM  8/13  NJWXNET
   SEA GIRT              4.56   500 AM  8/13  NJWXNET
   BELMAR AIRPORT        3.28   500 AM  8/13  AWOS

...OCEAN COUNTY...
   LITTLE EGG HARBOR TW  7.50   200 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   MANAHAWKIN            7.25   200 AM  8/13  COCORAHS
   2 NNE STAFFORD TWP    7.25   200 AM  8/13  COCORAHS
   POINT PLEASANT        5.90   500 AM  8/13  NJWXNET
   BRICK TWP             5.40   300 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   1 SSW PINEWALD        5.27   115 AM  8/13  MESONET
   SEASIDE HEIGHTS       4.59   500 AM  8/13  NJWXNET
   TOMS RIVER            4.39   230 AM  8/13  TRAINED SPOTTER
   LAKEWOOD              4.02   515 AM  8/13  MESONET
   BARNEGAT LIGHT        3.67   345 AM  8/13  MESONET
   TOMS RIVER AIRPORT    3.29   200 AM  8/13  AWOS

...SALEM COUNTY...
   WOODSTOWN             2.53   230 AM  8/13  MESONET

$$

GORSE

Weather Observer

For the last eleven  months I have had a CoCoRaHS rain gauge that I got from the WeatherYourWay Store. No I do not make observations for CoCoRaHS though I do read and rely on their reports that I get either through my local office of the National Weather Service on their daily CoCoRaHS Precipitation Summary Page or from the CoCoRaHS page for my State. But I do volunteer work for the Mt Holly Office of the National Weather Service (NWS) as a skywarn spotter. I took my basic skywarn spotter training six days before Superstorm Sandy hit, and I made my first spotter report to the Mt. Holly office of the NWS the morning after Sandy.

As a skywarn spotter I call my local NWS to report severe weather eventss: tornado or funnel cloud, hail of any size, winds of 50 mph or stronger, wind damage (trees, wires down, damage to structures, snow accumulation, ice accumulation, and flash or river flooding. I monitor rainfall and it is useful information to have when I call the NWS with a spotter report. For example, when I made my first spotter report after SS Sandy the meteorologist asked me how much rain we had. I could not give an accurate answer because I did not have my gauge up, but I gave her an estimate. Another time, I was reporting small stream flooding along with the possibility that a River was rising quickly and might reach the point where she might spill her banks. They asked me how much rain I recorded and I told them. 

I enjoy making my observations for the NWS, I'm hardly an expert on meteorology, but I did learn something about weather when I was studying for the FAA private pilot written exam over three years ago. Remember I am not a licensed pilot, but I go on scenic flights with supportive pilots when I can. Anyway, making observations for the NWS seemed like a good fit because of my interests in aviation.

So, I have my sheet where I have been recording rainfall from my rain gauge and have noticed the dry weather in September and October. Yes, and I have cloud chart in my kitchen. So since I have been recording daily rainfall for the past eleven months, I am more sensitive to rainfall extremes. And it has been a tad dry here. The dry weather that I've observed here got me wondering about wildfire activity in the northeast and mid-atlantic regions of the U.S., and I'll be writing about that in my next post.

Super Storm Sandy Tree Damage in Stokes State Forest (Branchville NJ)

I came across this video courtesy of my friends at the NJ Forest Fire Service Section B10 website, they posted the video on their video of the week page the week that I posted this article. Like a lot of places in New Jersey, Stokes State Forest in northern New Jersey had an enormous number of fallen trees during Super Storm Sandy on Oct. 29, 2012. Stokes State Forest is located in Sussex County NJ. It is a beautiful forest, I've been hiking their in years past. The video speaks to the enormous number of fallen trees in Stokes, the fire danger posed by fallen trees, and how some of the removed fallen trees will be used. 

The video is from NJTodayOnline, a direct link to the video may be found here.

Superstorm Sandy Recovery -- Out of State Utility Crews in NJ

I want to take a few moments and thank the many out of state utility crews who came from around the United States and Canada to help us out here in the mid-atlantic. Words can not adequately express my gratitude. I am going to focus on NJ, because it is where I live. First, I was able to get a few pictures in the last few days of a three out of state utility crews.

Utility worker from Intren (Union IL) at staging area awaiting his next work order

Crew from Robert Henry Corp (South Bend IN) replaced a transformer

Crew from Robert Henry Corp (South Bend IN) replaced a transformer

Crew from Penelec (NW PA) replacing wire

Crew from Penelec (NW PA) replacing wire

Here is a list of out of state utility crews that I saw in my town and in adjoining towns in NJ:

Pike Electric, I believe that it was a Pike Electric Crew that restored power to our neighborhood on Nov. 9th, thanks guys!! Some of the Pike crews were from Alabama
Henkels and McCoy Intren (IL) PenElec (Northwest PA)
Robert Henry Corp

Elliot Electric Contractors

Duke Energy (NC)

Georgia Power

Here is a video from the Asbury Park Press that I thought you might enjoy showing a couple of the tent cities set up in Ocean County NJ, for the out of state crews. Ocean County's barrier islands were among those hard hit by Superstorm Sandy. For more info see this Asbury Park Press article (also includes link to video).



Finally, a couple of articles and a photo gallery: Asbury Park Press - Nebraska Power workers going home.
Star Ledger -- Utility workers come to NJ's aid
Star Ledger photo gallery out of state utility crews