Thunderstorm Wind, Morris
- When
- April 19, 4:30 PM EST to 4:45 PM EST
- Where
- Morris County, Morris Plains
- Measured
- 61 kt (70 mph)
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 40.817, -74.483
Hail and Damaging Wind in New Jersey, April 19, 2002
A severe thunderstorm caused considerable tree damage and dropped hail as large as quarters across eastern parts of Morris County. In Morris Plains Borough, one tree fell on an occupied vehicle, but no injuries occurred.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. 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
- 2
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 severe thunderstorm caused considerable tree damage and dropped hail as large as quarters across eastern parts of Morris County. In Morris Plains Borough, one tree fell on an occupied vehicle, but no injuries occurred. In Parsippany, a tree fell through the addition of one house. In Florham Park Borough, trees took down numerous power lines and fell on one unoccupied vehicle. Most of the borough lost power. In Cedar Knolls, downed trees blocked a roadway. In Chatham Borough, one intersection was completely blocked by fallen trees. A large tree fell through the roof of one home and heavily damaged the second floor. In Chatham Township, trees damaged homes on two blocks and also damaged the Chatham Emergency Squad Building. Wind gusts were estimated to reach 70 mph. Jersey Central Power and Light reported about 10,000 residents lost power in northwest New Jersey because of the severe thunderstorms. Most of the power was restored by 10 p.m. EDT that evening.
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 19, 2:15 PM EST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 19, 2:15 PM EST, 2 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 315 PM EDT FRI APR 19 2002 FIRST LINE OF CONVTN PASSED THRU NRN COUNTIES WITHOUT MUCH ADO... HOWEVER WE/RE STILL QUITE UNSTABLE AND MOIST AND THE NEXT LINE HAS FORMED IN CNTRL PA AND IS KNOCKING ON THE DOOR SO WL CONT WITH THE CHC RW/TRW INTO THE EVENING AS FRONT SLOWLY PUSHES SE ALONG WITH UPPER DYNAMICS...AND BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS WL LIKELY FACTOR IN AS WELL. MODELS ARE MORE CONSISTENT THAN PREVIOUS RUNS IN BRINGING THE FRONT INTO OUR SRN ZONES LATE TNGT...SO WL CONT WITH CHC RW/TRW INTO THE EVENING/TIL ARND MIDNITE AND THEN JUST CHC RW SRN AREAS OVRNGT. THEN...ETA AND AVN ARE MORE IN LINE THAN YDA AND WITH FNT JUST ON OUR SRN DOORSTEP IF NOT IN OUR SRN AREA...WL GO MORE PESSIMISTIC WITH CLDS AND A 50 POP FOR SHWRS CNTRL AND S...AND EVEN A CHC OF A TSTM S. CNTRL AREAS ARE PROGGED TO BE MORE STABLE. JUST A 30 POP LEHIGH AND PARTS OF NWRN NJ...NOTHING FAR N. AS WAVE EXITS EWD WL GO POPLESS SAT NITE...THEN ANOTHER WAVE SUN. WL HAVE RAIN CHANCES ALL BUT NRN THIRD...WITH COLDER AIR TO FOLLOW SUN NITE AND MON. NO GENL AGREEMENT ALL PERIODS AMONG FWC/S FAN/S AND MAV/S...BUT WENT A BIT COLDER THAN FWC/S WITH MORE IN THE WAY OF CLDS PRECIP AND A NLY FLO SAT AND SUN. NOTHING UP ON THE MARINE...MORE ACTION POSSIBLE IN THE EXTDD PD. FCSTID = 17 MPO 52 63 36 52 / 30 20 10 20 ABE 55 69 41 57 / 30 30 10 20 RDG 56 70 42 58 / 30 30 10 30 PHL 60 72 46 61 / 30 50 10 30 12N 54 66 40 55 / 30 20 10 20 SMQ 58 71 44 59 / 30 30 10 20 TTN 59 71 45 60 / 30 50 10 30 MIV 59 70 43 60 / 30 50 10 30 ACY 57 67 45 58 / 30 50 10 30 ILG 60 71 45 61 / 30 50 10 30 DOV 60 71 45 60 / 30 50 10 30 GED 61 72 45 60 / 30 50 10 30 ESN 61 71 45 60 / 30 50 10 30 .PHI... DE...NONE. MD...NONE. NJ...NONE. PA...NONE. MARINE...NONE.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 19, 11:06 AM EST, 5 hours 24 minutes before
DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>026-PAZ054-055- 060>062-067>071-200130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 1206 PM EDT FRI APR 19 2002 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND NORTHERN NEW JERSEY INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN NORTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA... CARBON...AND MONROE. IN NORTHWESTERN NEW JERSEY... SUSSEX. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS WHICH CONTAIN DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND HAIL 3/4 INCH OR GREATER IN DIAMETER IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY ANY THUNDERSTORMS. EXPECT HAIL AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WITH SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM ALONG AND AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT ENTERING THE REGION FROM THE NORTHWEST. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA THE REST OF NEW JERSEY DELAWARE AND NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND...AND ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES ARE POSSIBLE LATER THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PHI IN SMALL LETTERS.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail, Morris
- When
- April 19, 4:30 PM EST
- Where
- Morris County, Whippany
- Measured
- 1 in hail
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 40.833, -74.417
What these are
- Thunderstorm Wind
- Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
- Hail
- Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Winds in District of Columbia, April 19, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in New York, April 19, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Ohio, April 19, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, April 19, 2002
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Ohio, April 19 to 20, 2002
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Kansas, April 19, 2002
- Flash Flooding in Missouri, April 19, 2002
- Damaging Winds in Kansas, April 19, 2002
- Flooding in Missouri, April 19 to 21, 2002
- Tornado and Flash Flooding in Illinois, April 19 to 20, 2002
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, April 19, 2002
- Damaging Winds in New York, April 19, 2002
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, April 2002
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: 5292529, 5292530.