Flood, Passaic
- When
- June 17, 2:30 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Passaic County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.034, -74.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flooding and Flood in New Jersey, June 17, 2001
On Sunday, June 17th, abundant moisture from the remnants of tropical storm Allison, combined with a cold front approaching from the west, produced extremely heavy rainfall across much of northern New Jersey during the early morning hours. Rainfall rates of up to 4 inches per hour produced widespread street and highway flooding, in addition to flash flooding of numerous small streams.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
- 4
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 OKX wrote it up.
On Sunday, June 17th, abundant moisture from the remnants of tropical storm Allison, combined with a cold front approaching from the west, produced extremely heavy rainfall across much of northern New Jersey during the early morning hours. Rainfall rates of up to 4 inches per hour produced widespread street and highway flooding, in addition to flash flooding of numerous small streams. Many rivers approached or even slightly exceeded flood stage during this heavy rain event.The heaviest rainfall fell from around 3 AM through around 6 AM Sunday morning. The area of heaviest rain shifted slowly northeast, beginning first across portions of Union and Essex Counties, then shifting into Bergen County.The following is a summary of major streams and rivers that either approached or exceeded flood stage:In Essex County: The Peckman River at Verona exceeded its flood stage of 3.5 feet at 3:54 AM EDT, crested at 4:00 AM at 3.7 feet, and then dropped below flood stage at 4:12 AM.In Bergen County: The Saddle River at Ridgewood exceeded its flood stage of 6.0 feet at 9:55 AM EDT, crested at 6.27 feet at 10:30 AM EDT, and then dropped below flood stage at 11:16 AM EDT. In addition, the Saddle River at Lodi crested at 5.86 feet at 2:15 PM EDT, remaining just below its flood stage of 6.0 feet.In Union County: The Rahway River at Springfield first crested at 5.41 feet at 5:30 AM EDT, and then crested again at 1:15 PM EDT, at 5.10 feet. These levels remained just below the flood stage of 5.5 feet.Many homes and businesses were directly impacted by the flooding that occurred, particularly from 3 AM through 5:30 AM. In West Caldwell (Essex County), numerous homes needed pumping due to small streams overflowing their banks. Several houses and businesses had over one foot of water flowing through them. In addition, several cars in parking lots were more than halfway submerged in nearly 3 feet of water. In Fairfield (Essex County), widespread severe flooding led to mandatory evacuations, with several shelters opening during the pre-dawn hours.Here are some rainfall amounts that occurred:In Essex County: From 0.75 inches at Newark, to 5.59 inches at Caldwell Airport.In Bergen County: From 1.05 inches at Teterboro, to 4.57 inches at Montvale.In Passaic County: From 1.22 inches at Charlottesburg, to 3.54 inches at Wayne.In Union County: From 2.08 inches at Cranford, to 2.82 inches at Plainfield.
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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 17, 2:21 AM EST, 9 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 2:21 AM EST, 9 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 321 AM EDT SUN JUN 17 2001 OVERALL...WE PREFER THE AVN AGAIN THIS MRNG. ALTHO DONT AGREE WITH THE AVN QPF NUMBRS...WE LIKE THE GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE PCPN. PRETTY CLOSE TO WHATS HAPPENG ATTM. LUKD AT THE SUNY STNYBRK AND PENN STATE MM5 AND NEITHER OF THEM SHOWG WHAT WAS CURRENTLY HAPPENG WITH THE QPF INLND...THUS HAD TO DISCOUNT MM5/S. WE THINK THE NGM TOO FAST...ETA TOO SLO WITH THE MVMT OF THE FORMER TS ALLISON. THE AVN IS A BLEND OF THE TWO AND IS PREFERD. WITH THAT IN MIND...WL GO CATEGORICAL WITH PCPN TDY. PCPN SHUD MOV INTO METRO AREA BTWN 06 AND 09Z. CURRENTLY RADAR SHOWG A BATCH OF TSTMS OFF THE CNTL NJ CST AND HEADD RIGHT FOR THE METRO AREA. ANOTHER BATCH HAS SPRUNG UP S OF STATEN ISLND AND SHUD MOV INTO EWR BEFORE ZFP IS ISSUED. THINKG THE NGM IS TOO DRY AND 1ST PD TEMPS TOO HI...THUS WL TREND TWDS THE MAV/S ESP 1ST PD. FWC TEMPS LUK OK PDS 2 THRU 4. CURRENTLY THE 88D SHOWG A NICE SPIRAL MOVG NWD INTO SRN DELAWARE. AL MDLS SHOW IT MOVG NEWD BUT AS PREVIOUSLY MENTIOND LIKE THE AVN TIMG. ON THE MARINE...WL KEEP THE SCA UP FOR RUFF SEAS...EVEN THO SEAS ARE STILL UNDER SCA...THEY SHUD INCRS LATR THIS MRNG AND DURG THE DAY TDY. ON THE UP SIDE...NO DENSE FG TNT. FIRST CUT OF WRKZFP IN AWIPS NOW. NO MAJOR CHGS PLANND TO XTNDD ATTM. WL ADD TO FFA TO ALSO INCLUDE NYZ068-071-070-CTZ005-009. WL LEAVE IT UP TIL 16Zm TDY. .OKX... CT...FFA 330AM - NOON SUN...CTZ005-009. NJ...FFA MIDNIGHT-NOON SUN...NJZ002>006-011. NY...FFA MIDNIGHT-NOON SUN...NYZ067-071. MARINE...SCA FOR ROUGH SEAS OCEAN WTRS...ANZ350-353-355. WOOLDRIDGE
The radar
The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:32 UTC.
Event by event
3 flash flood, 1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash Flood, Essex
- When
- June 17, 2:54 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Essex County, West Caldwell
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.787, -74.247 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Bergen
- When
- June 17, 3:10 AM EST to 12:30 PM EST
- Where
- Bergen County, Westwood
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.960, -74.074 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood, Union
- When
- June 17, 4:10 AM EST to 7:00 AM EST
- Where
- Union County, Countywide
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.660, -74.309 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Flood
- Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
- 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
- Heat in Illinois, June 17, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Massachusetts, June 17, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Nebraska, June 17, 2001
- Flooding and Hail in Wisconsin, June 17 to 18, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Wisconsin, June 17 to 18, 2001
- Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in Rhode Island, June 17, 2001
- Flash Flooding in Connecticut, June 17, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Montana, June 17, 2001
- Wildfire in California, June 17 to 18, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Florida, June 17, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Florida, June 17, 2001
- Tornado in Maine, June 17, 2001
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5251316, 5251313, 5251314, 5251315.