Flood and Heavy Rain in New Jersey, June 1 to 3, 2001

Name: Flood and Heavy Rain in New Jersey, June 1 to 3, 2001
Start: 2001-06-01T13:00
End: 2001-06-03T08:00
Location: New Jersey

June 1 to 3, 2001 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: 5

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 fell across Mercer County and the Raritan and Passaic River Basins in the northern half of New Jersey. The heavier rain spread across the region during the afternoon of the 1st and ended during the morning of the 2nd. Storm totals averaged between 1.5 and 2.75 inches with lesser amounts (around an inch) across the rest of the northern two-thirds of New Jersey. Some poor drainage flooding occurred, but most major streams and rivers remained within their banks. No serious damage was reported. The Millstone River at Griggstown (Somerset County) exceeded its 9 foot flood stage from 620 a.m. EDT on the 2nd through 9 a.m. EDT on the 3rd. It crested at 10.1 feet at 5 p.m. EDT on the 2nd. Subsequently, the Griggstown Causeway was closed over the Millstone River in Franklin Township. Storm totals included 2.80 inches in Chatham (Morris County), 2.62 inches in Belle Mead (Somerset County), 2.43 inches in Pottersville (Somerset County), 2.23 inches in Trenton (Mercer County), 2.08 inches in New Brunswick (Middlesex County), 2.07 inches in Washington's Crossing (Mercer County), 2.00 inches in Blackwells Mills (Somerset County), 1.89 inches in Flemington (Hunterdon County), 1.75 inches in Wertsville (Hunterdon County) and 1.58 inches in Iselin (Middlesex County). A warm front over the Ohio Valley on the morning of the 1st moved into New Jersey the morning of the 2nd. A low pressure system developed on the frontal boundary's triple point (the conjunction of the occluded, warm and cold fronts) over Eastern Pennsylvania by the morning of the 2nd. Heavier rain fell to the north of this low center across much of the northern half of New Jersey.

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 Jun 1, 8:35 AM EST, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 1, 8:35 AM EST, 4 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
935 AM EDT FRI JUN 1 2001

...UPDATED...
A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED AT THIS POINT.  AS THE MORE
SUBSTANTIAL RAIN MOVES INTO THE REGION THIS EVENING IT SHOULD BEGIN
TO MIX DOWN WINDS IN THE SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY RANGE.

THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST WILL BE LEFT AS IT IS.

...EARLY MORNING DISCUSSION...
THIS IS JUNE? MDLS CONT TO SHOW BOUT WITH NXT H5 CLSD LO. WRM FNT
SLATED TO APPRCH AREA TDA WITH SOME RN MOVG INTO AREA THIS AFTN. SFC
LOW TO DVLP AND MOV N OF AREA LT TNGT AND ERLY SAT. BUT B-4 IT
DOES...RN WL FALL OVERNGT. SOME THUNDER PSBL. EVEN SOME R+ NOT OUT
OF QUESTION. ? OF DAY IS IF OUR GRND HAS DRIED OUT ENUF TO TAKE NXT
BATCH OF PSBL HVY RN. WL NOT ISSUE ANY WTCH ATTM AS CURNT SYS...EVEN
WITH CHC OF R+...DOES SEEM TO MOV RIGHT ALNG RATHER QUICKLY.  ONCE
OUT OF AREA...SAT SHUD NOT BE THAT BAD OF A DAY WITH SOMEWHAT OF A
DRYING WESTERLY WND.  NXT SPOKE TO MOV IN AND AFFECT AREA LATER SAT
NGT INTO ERLY SUN.  AFTER THAT...JUST LIKE LAST WK...H5 CLSD LO MOVS
INTO NY STA AND WEAKENS AS IT DOES.  ANY RW ACTVTY SHUD RMN NRN MOST
ZNS. - JWH

.PHI...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM SANDY HOOK NJ TO FENWICK ISLAND DE
        AND FOR DELAWARE BAY.

IOVINO

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 heavy rain, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Mercer

When: June 1, 1:00 PM EST to June 2, 2:00 AM EST
Where: Mercer County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.283, -74.702 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Hunterdon

When: June 1, 3:00 PM EST to June 2, 4:00 AM EST
Where: Hunterdon County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.567, -74.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Morris

When: June 1, 4:00 PM EST to June 2, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Morris County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Middlesex

When: June 1, 5:00 PM EST to June 2, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Middlesex County, Countywide
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.440, -74.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Somerset

When: June 2, 5:20 AM EST to June 3, 8:00 AM EST
Where: Somerset forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Jersey in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, June 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: 5255173, 5255172, 5255175, 5255174, 5255176.