High Wind and Strong Wind in New Jersey, March 6 to 7, 1997

A rapidly intensifying low pressure system and the pressure difference between it and a high pressure system over the Upper Plains caused strong to locally damaging winds in New Jersey. The surface low pressure system went from a pressure of 1012 millibars in Western Kentucky the morning of the 5th to a pressure of 986 millibars just east of Boston the morning of the 6th. The drop of 26 millibars or .78 inches of mercury within a 24 hour period constitutes what's called a meteorological bomb. The rapid intensification of this storm helped cause the very strong winds. The strongest wind gusts for most places coincided with this low pressure system's cold frontal passage during the early morning of the 6th. But winds remained very strong until the sun set that afternoon. The strong northwest winds also produced a relatively rare blow-out conditions during times of low tide from around noon on the 6th to around noon on the 7th. The strong winds pulled down numerous tree limbs and consequently wires throughout the state. Public Service Electric and Gas, Atlantic Electric and GPU reported about 44,000 homes and businesses lost power throughout the state. In the Public Service Electric and Gas service area, Mercer and Burlington Counties had the most outages. The hardest hit communities included Burlington, Hopewell, Lawrence, Princeton, West Windsor and Willingboro. In Mercer County, a driver and passenger narrowly escaped injuries in Lawrence Township when a tree fell on their vehicle. Whole trees were blown down in Trenton and Princeton. Roofs were blown off a house in Trenton and a warehouse in Hamilton. Siding was also ripped from a house in Hamilton. In Ocean County, several buildings were damaged in Seaside Heights. Several trees were uprooted along the Garden State Parkway. A tree fell on a house in Brick Township and shingles were blown off a building in Lakehurst. In Middlesex County, whole trees were uprooted in South River and Carteret. Fences were blown down in Carteret. Siding was blown off a building in Woodbridge. Downed poles closed a road off of U.S. Route 1 in Edison. In Monmouth County, 17 residents of the Seabreeze Hotel in Keansburg were relocated after the wind destroyed the hotel's chimney. Numerous pine trees were uprooted in Manalapan and a tree damaged a roof in Fair Haven. In Warren County, in Mansfield Township an uprooted tree damaged a house's roof and a van in its driveway. Numerous lines and transformers were reported down in Blairstown and Lopatcong Townships.The strong northwest winds caused blow-out tides along the New Jersey shore on both the 6th and 7th. The low tide in Atlantic City was 2.6 feet below mean low water at 1146 p.m. EST on the 6th and 2.2 feet below mean low water at 1152 a.m. EST on the 7th. A dredger was pushed onto the south shore of Brigantine Island and became stuck.The highest wind gusts recorded including 73 mph in Seaside Park (Ocean County), 71 mph in Harvey Cedars (Ocean County), 63 mph in New Brunswick (Middlesex County), 61 mph in Deptford (Gloucester County), 60 mph in Upper Freehold Township (Monmouth County), 56 mph in Hancocks Bridge (Salem County), 55 mph in Chatham (Morris County), 52 mph at the Cape May and Mercer County Airports and 51 mph at the Atlantic City International Airport in Pomona and McGuire AFB.