Heavy Rain in New Jersey, September 13 to 14, 2001

Name: Heavy Rain in New Jersey, September 13 to 14, 2001
Start: 2001-09-13T23:00
End: 2001-09-14T09:00
Location: New Jersey

September 13 to 14, 2001 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

0 inches across the Raritan Basin in Central New Jersey. The heavy rain produced some urban and poor drainage flooding, but no serious injuries or damage were reported.

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

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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 PHI wrote it up.

A cold front which had thunderstorms with heavy rain along the leading edge and then a prolonged period of light to moderate rain produced storm totals of between 1.5 and 2.0 inches across the Raritan Basin in Central New Jersey. The heavy rain produced some urban and poor drainage flooding, but no serious injuries or damage were reported. The heaviest rain fell during the initial shot of thunderstorms around midnight EDT on the 14th with rainfall totals of about one half to three quarters of an inch during the first hour. Storm totals included 1.96 inches in New Brunswick (Middlesex County), 1.92 inches in Somerville (Somerset County), 1.89 inches in Chatham (Morris County) and 1.40 inches in Flemington (Hunterdon County).

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 Sep 13, 7:29 PM EST, 3 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 13, 7:29 PM EST, 3 hours 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
829 PM EDT THU SEP 13 2001

MADE SOME SIGNIFICANT TEMP CHANGES TO THE FCST BY LOWERING TEMPS
THROUGH ALL EARLY PDS. REASONING...CURRENT TEMPS ALL BELOW 60 NORTH
OF THE FRONT AND THIS AIRMASS IS HEADED THIS WAY. IN ADDITION...THE
NEW MESOETA AND AVN (18Z) SHOW LOW LVL THICKNESSES TOO COOL TO
SUPPORT ANY TEMP ABOVE 60. THEREFORE 1ST PD TEMPS NEED TO BE
LOWERED. PER PCPN...CURRENT TIMING IS GENLY OK BASED ON CURRENT
CONDITIONS SHOWING CNVCTN WITH THE FRONT THEN STRATIFORM PCPN N OF
THE FRONT. PER THE REST OF THE EARLY PDS...TEMPS WILL BE LOWERED
FROM CURRENT FCST TO MORE IN LINE WITH THE FAN/MAV TEMPS WHICH WERE
5 TO 10 DEGR COOLER THAN MOS. THE NEW MESOETA AND AVN LOW LVL
THICKNESSES AND 850 TEMPS...EVEN AS FAR OUT AS SAT SUPPORT AT LEAST
A COMPROMISE TOWARD THE COOLER GUIDANCE.

IN THE MARINE FORECAST...A HEADLINE WILL BE KEPT FOR PSBL SCA FRI
AND SAT. SPS HAS ALSO BEEN ISSUED FOR THE UPCOMING PERIOD OF HIGH
ASTRONOMICAL TIDES AND THE POTENTIAL ONSHORE FLOW.

MPO   50  58  43  58 /  80  60   0   0
ABE   53  60  45  61 /  80  60   0   0
RDG   53  60  45  61 /  80  60   0   0
PHL   58  65  50  68 /  60  60   0   0
12N   50  58  43  58 /  80  60   0   0
SMQ   55  65  48  67 /  70  60   0   0
TTN   55  65  48  67 /  70  60   0   0
MIV   60  68  50  69 /  60  60   0   0
ACY   60  68  53  69 /  60  60   0   0
ILG   58  65  48  68 /  60  60   0   0
DOV   60  68  50  69 /  60  60   0   0
GED   60  68  50  69 /  60  60   0   0
ESN   60  68  50  69 /  60  60   0   0

.PHI...
DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...NONE.
PA...NONE.
MARINE...

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. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Hunterdon

When: September 13, 11:00 PM EST to September 14, 9:00 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, Middlesex

When: September 13, 11:00 PM EST to September 14, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Middlesex County, Deans
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.440, -74.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Morris

When: September 13, 11:00 PM EST to September 14, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Morris County, Mendham
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Rain, Somerset

When: September 13, 11:00 PM EST to September 14, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Somerset County, Countywide
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.

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, September 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: 5268730, 5268731, 5268732, 5268733.