New Jersey, 2001

Wildfire in New Jersey, April 30, 2001

April 30, 2001 · NWS PHI · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

The unseasonably dry weather during the second half of April continued to make it easy for brush and wildfires to begin and then spread quickly. Three such wildfires occurred during the afternoon and evening on the 30th across central New Jersey.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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.

The unseasonably dry weather during the second half of April continued to make it easy for brush and wildfires to begin and then spread quickly. Three such wildfires occurred during the afternoon and evening on the 30th across central New Jersey. In Piscataway Township (Middlesex County), three separate blazes erupted along a two mile stretch of railroad tracks. In Port Monmouth, (Monmouth County) a four acre fire consumed vegetation. In Bayville, (Ocean County) fire consumed a four acre salt marsh. No property damage was reported.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 30, 1:21 PM EST, 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 1:21 PM EST, 54 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
22O PM EDT MON APR 30 2001

NOT A WHOLE LOT TO PICK APART THRU TUE. MDLS SPLIT A BIT WED BETWEEN
ETA AND AVN IN H5 RDG PSN AND AVN IMPLYING A BACK-DOOR TYPE CDFNT
MOVG S. BASIC SOLNS ABT IN LINE...BUT WL LEAN TWD ETA SOLN WITH H5
RDG MAINTAINING SOLID POSN ACRS FCST AREA AS UP LO GNRLY RMNS
ANCHORED S OF NEW FOUNDLAND AND ENERGY FRM W LIFTS NE AND INTO CNTRL
CANADA. ANY CHG IN WX WITH FNTL PASSAGE WONT BE UNTIL LT FRI OR FRI
NGT.

.PHI...NONE.

JWH

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.

Wildfire, Middlesex

When
April 30, 2:15 PM EST to 3:45 PM EST
Where
Middlesex County, Camp Kilmer
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.440, -74.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Ocean

When
April 30, 3:45 PM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Ocean County, Bayville
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Wildfire, Monmouth

When
April 30, 5:00 PM EST to 6:45 PM EST
Where
Monmouth County, Port Monmouth
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Wildfire
A fire burning in wildland vegetation, with its acreage and damage where known.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, April 2001

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: 5240763, 5240765, 5240764.