High Wind in New Jersey, January 18, 1999

A powerful cold front accompanied by rain showers and high winds produced wind gusts of around 55 mph in the Watchung/Raritan area of central New Jersey around 5 p.m. EST. In Somerset County, downed trees were reported in Bridgewater and Franklin Townships. There were also some trees knocked over into lanes of Interstate 287. There was more wind damage in Middlesex County. Downed trees were reported in Edison, Old Bridge and North and South Brunswick. Wires were knocked down in Milltown, Sayreville and South Amboy. A road sign was knocked down onto the northbound lanes of Interstate 287. The heavy rain associated with the rain showers was believed to contribute to a transformer fire that forced the evacuation of the Midstate Mall in East Brunswick. Public Service Electric and Gas reported 6,500 customers throughout the state lost power including central New Jersey. GPU Energy also reported about 7,000 of their customers also lost power in central and coastal New Jersey. At least 20 trains were detained for about two hours when the power was lost on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor Line. The outage affected Amtrak, New Jersey Transit and SEPTA regional trains.