Flash Flood, Somerset
- When
- December 7, 9:00 PM EST to December 8, 3:00 AM EST
- Where
- Somerset County, Countywide
- Coordinates
- 40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in New Jersey, December 7 to 8, 1996
Heavy rain associated with a low pressure system off the New Jersey coast during the evening of the 7th caused the flooding of some of the smaller streams in Somerset County. The flooding reached the larger rivers within the Raritan Basin during the morning of the 8th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.
Heavy rain associated with a low pressure system off the New Jersey coast during the evening of the 7th caused the flooding of some of the smaller streams in Somerset County. The flooding reached the larger rivers within the Raritan Basin during the morning of the 8th. Storm totals included 1.26 inches in Pottersville. This was already the third time this month that a precipitation event produced more than an inch of rain across the county.
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:58 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Flash Flood
- Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado in Florida, December 7, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, December 7 to 8, 1996
- Winter Storm in Vermont, December 7 to 8, 1996
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Massachusetts, December 7 to 8, 1996
- Coastal Flood in Connecticut, December 7 to 8, 1996
- Flooding in Oregon, December 7 to 10, 1996
- Flood in California, December 7 to 10, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Connecticut, December 7 to 8, 1996
- Winter Storm in New York, December 7 to 8, 1996
- Winter Storm in Vermont, December 7 to 8, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, December 7, 1996
- Damaging Wind in Florida, December 7, 1996
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, December 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5577419.