New Jersey
Why N.J. keeps getting missed by hurricanes and tropical storms
After an unusually slow start, the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is now in full blast, with multiple hurricanes and tropical storms popping up during the past few weeks — including the monstrous Hurricane Milton, which rapidly intensified from a tropical storm to a scary, powerful Category 5 hurricane in less than 24 hours.
Amid the flurry of tropical activity and serious threats to people and buildings in the southeastern U.S. region, one noticeable trend has developed. This year’s storms are not making their way up north to the New Jersey region.
Our area isn’t even getting the leftover rain and wind that commonly drifts in our direction after big storms make landfall along the U.S. Gulf coast or the southern Atlantic.
The reason is fairly simple, according to Ken Elliott, a meteorologist for WeatherWorks, a private forecasting company based in New Jersey.
“High pressure has just been blocking everything,” Elliott said.
Elliott said large domes of high pressure have been larger and farther south than they normally are in the late summer and early fall, and those systems of circulating air have acted as a giant shield to block the southern storms or their remnants from pushing north.
“That basically deflected all the moisture south,” he noted.
Elliott said the same general pattern has been repeating itself during recent weeks.
“The first in a series of storms — Francine — went up to the Gulf Coast northound and it basically just ran into one of those highs. That rain just fell apart when it got too far inland,” the forecaster said.
“Try as they might, these hurricanes just can’t get into that,” Elliott added. “The highs just reinforce themselves one after the other, and they (the tropical systems) run into dry air.”
Earlier this week, three different hurricanes were spinning in the Atlantic hurricane basin, and none of them are expected to bring any rain or wind to New Jersey.National Hurricane Center
During recent weeks, as hurricane season was ramping up, large high pressure systems have been circulating over Canada and dropping south, sometimes into the Ohio Valley and more recently over Missouri.
“Hurricanes go into the path of least resistance a lot of times, and they will try to find a way to escape,” Elliott said. “Hurricanes look for a weakness in the high. There’s really been no weakness in these highs.”
Elliott noted that Hurricane Milton will be staying far south of New Jersey only partly because of the strong highs near our region of the country. The other big factor with Milton is its steering winds, he said.
Milton formed as a tropical storm in the western Gulf of Mexico, and steering winds are pushing the now-major hurricane across the eastern Gulf on a path that’s aiming directly at the west-central coast of Florida. And the steering winds are expected to push the storm fairly quickly out into the open Atlantic after it makes landfall Wednesday night.
That track is different, Elliott said, from the tropical systems that more commonly move up from the southern Gulf or southern Atlantic and push their way up to the north.
Hurricane Milton is expected to maintain its strength as a major hurricane before it slams into the western coast of Florida Wednesday night, bringing highly destructive winds, heavy rain and a life-threatening storm surge, forecasters warn.National Hurricane Center
Staying dry in New Jersey
With all the high pressure systems in place near New Jersey, the Garden State has had long stretches of dry and pleasant weather, except for some occasional spotty rain.
Last month turned out to be one of the driest Septembers ever recorded in New Jersey, with many areas of the state getting less than an inch of rain — and some areas reporting less than a half-inch — the entire month, according to data from the National Weather Service.
The dry trend has continued during the first eight days of October, with only a trace of rain reported in the Newark area, the Trenton area and the Atlantic City area.
When will New Jersey see any substantial rain? Forecasters say they don’t see any major storms brewing right now, and there’s only a 30% to 40% chance that a cold front from the west might bring a little bit of rain to our region Sunday night or Monday morning.
Current weather radar
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.
A South Jersey summer camp is bringing Black history to life through hands-on learning centered on the Underground Railroad.
The Lawnside Historical Society kicked off its Underground Railroad summer camp Monday, giving middle school students the opportunity to visit sites tied to the fight for freedom and learn beyond the classroom.
“I was excited,” 10-year-old summer camper Harlan Jenifer III from Lawnside said. “I was happy to learn about my heritage and history.”
On Day 1, the Lawnside Historical Society brought students to the home of Peter Mott, a free Black man who opened his house as a place of refuge for freedom seekers escaping enslavement.
“The most interesting thing I learned so far was that this house was in Lawnside,” 13-year-old summer camper Stacey Johnson from Somerdale said. “I didn’t realize that the Underground Railroad was connected to New Jersey at all at one point.”
The weeklong camp includes scavenger hunts, tours and writing activities designed to deepen students’ understanding of what they learn in school.
“You will not find Peter Mott’s name most likely in the history books, but I want students to know that Lawnside, alongside Free Haven and Snow Hill, had a big part in the Underground Railroad,” Joyce Fowler, vice president of the Lawnside Historical Society, said.
Camp leaders said the program goes beyond traditional classroom lessons, highlighting details such as coded communication and the ways enslaved people navigated their journey to freedom.
“A lot of times the teachers don’t go into the study of the communication that enhanced and actually had to do with the struggle for freedom,” camp director Jacqueline Miller Bentley said.
Throughout the week, students will visit additional Underground Railroad sites across South Jersey, including Mt. Zion AME Church in Woolwich, Gloucester County, and museums.
Harlan said the camp has already changed his perspective.
“I just thought it was a history of something that was back in the past that I didn’t need to care about,” Harland said. “But right now, it’s making me want to learn more about it.”
The camp runs through Friday, when students will present paintings, poems and other creative projects inspired by what they’ve learned.
How to keep food safe when the power goes out
Here are a few ways to keep your food safe to eat in the fridge and freezer during a power outage.
unbranded – Lifestyle
Mother Nature has a way of being unpredictable, which can leave residents in the dark.
New Jersey residents experiencing a power outage can check with their electric provider’s outage map to find the status of a weather-related blackout.
Monmouth and Ocean counties are serviced by three electrical companies; Jersey Central Power & Light, also known as First Energy, PSE&G and Atlantic City Electric. Residents can stay up-to-date with information about power outages, down wires and lines, street light problems and restoration time by looking online.
JCP&L power outage map
Customers can check JCP&L power outage map here. In case of any down wires or power lines, call 911 immediately, and stay 30 feet away from power lines or low-hanging power lines as they can energize the ground and nearby objects. Customers can call 888-LIGHTSS (888-544-4877) or report an outage online.
PSE power outage map
Customers can check the PSE&G power outage map here. In case of downed wires or other hazardous conditions, immediately evacuate the area to a safe location. Call the emergency line at 800-880-PSEG (7734) or text “OUT” to 4PSEG (47734) for registered users. PSE&G also offers a mobile app for its customers.
Atlantic Electric power outage map
Customers can check Atlantic power outage map here. If electric power is interrupted or if there are any downed wires in the area, immediately call 800-833-7476 to report the outage. Customers can also use the outage tracker with a registered phone number.
Several days of scorching temperatures are suspected to have caused at least 19 deaths in New Jersey as a heat dome that had settled above parts of the central and eastern US gives way to severe storms that have knocked out power to close to 1 million homes and businesses. New Jersey officials said they began seeing what they believe are heat-related deaths as early as Thursday, the AP reports, with most occurring in the central and northern parts of the state. “Unfortunately, many of these individuals were found in homes without air conditioning,” state Health Commissioner Raynard Washington told reporters Saturday. “A few were outside their residences, some on the street and some even in parked cars.”
The ongoing weather is “the hottest stretch we’ve seen in over 14 years,” New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said. “The heat’s hitting all of us, not just seniors, not just with underlying health conditions, people of all ages.” On Thursday, LaGuardia Airport in New York set a record high of 104 degrees Fahrenheit, topping the previous record of 101 set in 1966, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Prediction Center. Trenton, New Jersey, reached 101, which broke the record of 100 set in 1901. Newark’s high Thursday was 105.
Even as the heat moved east, lowering temperatures a bit, severe storms blew in with heavy winds that toppled utility poles and split trees, causing their boles and branches to fall onto power lines. About 900,000 utility customers in parts of the central, eastern, and southern US were without electricity early Sunday afternoon, according to PowerOutage.com. More than 223,000 customers in Michigan and close to 170,000 in Pennsylvania had lost power. PPL Electric reported 121,417 without power Sunday morning, including about 47,000 in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, area.
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