New Jersey, 2002

Heat in New Jersey, July 2 to 4, 2002

July 2 to 4, 2002 · NWS OKX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

Temperatures rose into the upper 90s in the highly urbanized areas of Northeast Union, Southeast Essex, and Eastern Hudson Counties that included the corridor from Elizabeth City north to Newark and Jersey City. They rose mainly into the mid 90s elsewhere.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
6

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.

Temperatures rose into the upper 90s in the highly urbanized areas of Northeast Union, Southeast Essex, and Eastern Hudson Counties that included the corridor from Elizabeth City north to Newark and Jersey City. They rose mainly into the mid 90s elsewhere. Temperatures averaged 10 to 15 degrees above normal. On July 4th, the high temperature reached 100 degrees at Newark Airport. Overnight low temperatures during July third and fourth remained in the lower 80s in highly urbanized areas. High temperatures and humidities combined to produce heat indices from 100 to 105 degrees throughout the region.

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 Jul 2, 8:30 AM EST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 8:30 AM EST, 3 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
930 AM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

THE STORY OF THE DAY WILL BE THE HEAT. ALREADY...AT THIS EARLY
HOUR...MOST PLACES HAVE NUDGED ABOVE THE 80 DEGREE MARK. AND THOSE
THAT HAVENT...WILL SOON GET THERE. BY THIS AFTERNOON...THE MERCURY
WILL RISE WELL UP INTO THE 90S IN ALL AREAS EXCEPT THE EXTREME SOUTH
FACING SHORES...AND THE TWIN FORKS OF LONG ISLAND.

VISIBLE SATELLITE SHOWS AN MCS OVER MAINE. 12Z OKX SOUNDING SHOWS
GENERALLY NORTHEAST FLOW FROM 500 HPA AND UP. WE WILL PROBABLY SEE
SOME UPPER LEVEL DEBRIS FROM THIS SYSTEM...WHICH WILL DECREASE OUR
INSOLATION LATE THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. THIS THIN CIRRUS LAYER
MAY BE ENOUGH TO HOLD BACK THE TEMPERATURES BY A DEGREE OR TWO.

ON THE FLIP SIDE...WE CONTINUE TO WARM AT VIRTUALLY ALL LEVELS OF
THE ATMOSPHERE. 850 HPA TEMPERATURE THIS MORNING WAS 17.6 DEGREES C
UP FROM 17.4 DEGREES 12 HOURS AGO AND 14.6 DEGREES 24 HOURS AGO. THE
LOW LEVEL WIND PROFILE SHOWS WEST-NORTHWEST COMPONENT...WHICH WILL
LIMIT THE INLAND PROGRESSION OF THE SEABREEZE. WITH DEWPOINTS
HOVERING AROUND THE 70 DEGREE F MARK...IT ADDS UP TO A HAZY, HOT,
HUMID AND UNCOMFORTABLE DAY FOR THE TRI-STATE AREA. CURRENT PACKAGE
LOOKS ON TRACK...THEREFORE DO NOT PLAN AN UPDATE.

MARINE...CURRENT OBSERVATIONS REPORTING SOUTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15
KT...WITH A SEA HEIGHT OF 3 FT. DONT EXPECT TO EVEN APPROACH SCA
CRITERIA.

.OKX...
CT...NONE.
NJ...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING 005-006-011-032200
NY...HEAT ADVISORY 072>076-022300
MARINE...NONE.

JK

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Heat, Bergen

When
July 2, 12:00 PM EST to July 4, 5:00 PM EST
Where
Bergen forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Essex

When
July 2, 12:00 PM EST to July 4, 5:00 PM EST
Where
Essex forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Hudson

When
July 2, 12:00 PM EST to July 4, 5:00 PM EST
Where
Hudson forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.731, -74.076 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Union

When
July 2, 12:00 PM EST to July 4, 5:00 PM EST
Where
Union forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC

Heat, Western Passaic

When
July 2, 12:00 PM EST to July 4, 5:00 PM EST
Where
Western Passaic forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.034, -74.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heat, Eastern Passaic

When
July 2, 12:00 PM EST to July 4, 5:00 PM EST
Where
Eastern Passaic forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
41.034, -74.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Heat
Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, July 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: 5301696, 5301697, 5301698, 5301699, 5301700, 5301701.