Flood, Morris
- When
- June 21, 4:00 PM EST to June 24, 1:00 PM EST
- Where
- Morris forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flood in New Jersey, June 21 to 24, 2003
A slow moving low pressure system at both the surface and aloft helped trigger heavy rain across Morris County on the 20th and 21st. Two day storm totals ranged from one inch in the eastern part of the county to over three inches in the western part of the county.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 1
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 slow moving low pressure system at both the surface and aloft helped trigger heavy rain across Morris County on the 20th and 21st. Two day storm totals ranged from one inch in the eastern part of the county to over three inches in the western part of the county. The heavy rain that fell during the afternoon and early evening of the 21st caused flooding. Flooded roads were reported in Denville, Dover and Jefferson Townships. Dirt and rocks had to be removed from roads in Jefferson Township. In Mendham Township, flooding was reported in the Knollwood Trail Development. Basement flooding was reported throughout the county. Runoff from the heavy rain led to flooding across sections of the Passaic Basin in the ensuing days. The Rockaway River below the Boonton Reservoir was above its 5 foot flood stage from 205 a.m. EDT on the 22nd through 1015 p.m. EDT on the 23rd. It crested at 5.97 feet at 215 p.m. EDT on the 22nd. The Pequannock River at the Macopin Intake Dam was at its 5.5 foot flood stage around 5 a.m. EDT on the 22nd. The Passaic River at Pine Brook reached its 19 foot flood stage at 245 a.m. EDT on the 23rd, crested at 19.14 feet at 215 p.m. EDT on the 23rd and was back within bankfull at 2 p.m. EDT on the 24th. Two day storm totals included 1.73 inches in Long Valley and 1.65 inches in Chatham. The low pressure system responsible for the heavy rain formed along a stationary front over the Carolinas during the morning of the 20th. It moved to just east of Wallops Island, Virginia during the evening of the 20th and well east of the Delmarva Peninsula during the morning of the 21st. An inverted trough at the surface that extended from the low westward into Northern New Jersey and Northeast Pennsylvania concentrated the heavy rain along its axis. On the 21st, the heaviest rain fell from the afternoon into the early evening.June as a whole was an unseasonably wet month. On a county weighted average, June monthly precipitation totals averaged 8.7 inches in Morris County. Normal is around 3.9 inches. Morris County was not alone in New Jersey with the wet weather. The preliminary statewide June monthly precipitation average was 8.51 inches, 4.72 inches wetter than normal. This would surpass June 1972 as the wettest June on record since 1895. Monthly precipitation totals included 7.54 inches at Mercer County Airport and 6.99 inches at the Atlantic City International Airport. The wet spring weather led to a whole different set of problems from the drought of the previous year. Planted seeds were drowning and rotting. Many soybean, corn and berry fields were too wet. There were also problems with slugs. Vegetables were generally about a month behind. Double crop fields fell behind schedule because of the slow growth of straw and hay. Garden shops sales have been down. Pool installations were about three to six weeks behind. Ant infestations increased. Windshield wipers were tearing. Many spring athletic seasons were extended because of postponed events. There will be a bumper crop of mosquitoes. Attendance along the shore and at amusement parks was down. Road work was delayed. The one few positives from the wet weather was lower utility bills.
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 21, 1:25 PM EST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 1:25 PM EST, 2 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 225 PM EDT SAT JUN 21 2003 WELCOME TO OFFICIAL SUMMER AT 310 THIS AFTN. ALTHOUGH IT MAY NOT FEEL LIKE SUMMER...BY TUESDAY...THAT WILL CHANGE. THE BIG UPPER LOW WILL MOVE ACROSS THE FCST AREA THIS EVENING. AREAS IN THE NE QUADRANT OF THE LOW WILL KEEP THE BANDED PCPN MOVING IN FROM THE OCEAN. WITHIN THE LOW AND TO THE SW...WHAT DAYTIME HEATING WE DID GET TODAY IS FORMING MORE CONVCTN. THEREFORE...WITH THE GROUND SATURATED...I WILL KEEP THE FFA IN EFFECT. THE LOW GRADUALLY HEAD NE PUTTING THE FCST AREA ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE LOW. MODELS SHOW SOME WRAP AROUND MOISTURE. BUT CONSIDERING THE TIME OF YEAR...AND THE FACT THAT TODAYS PCPN HAS BEEN DIURNALLY AFFECTED W OF THE UPPER LOW...I WILL FCST MAINLY AFTN/EVENING SHWERS AND TSTMS ON SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY EVENING. THEN CNVCTN DIES DOWN SUNDAY NIGHT AND MOST OF MONDAY. FOR MONDAY AFTN...THE MODEL SOUNDINGS CONTINUE UNSTABLE ENUF THAT WHEN COMBINED WITH DAYTIME HEATING...SCATTERED TSTMS COULD AGAIN DEVELOP IN THE AFTN. HOWEVER...THIS TIME...I DONT THINK IT WILL BE VERY WIDESPREAD AND MORE SCATTERED IN NATURE. TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...WE GET A PATTERN CHANGE. HIGH PRES FORMS OVER NRN VA WHILE HOT AIR FROM THE UPPER PLAINS MOVES IN FROM THE WEST AND NW. WE SHOULD GET OUR FIRST 90 OF THE SEASON IN MOST AREAS OUTSIDE OF THE MOUNTAINS AND THE COAST. THU...ANOTHER FRONTAL SYSTEM BRINGS THE PSBLTY OF AFTN/EVENING PCPN. FCSTID = 9 MPO 52 68 54 84 / 90 70 70 20 ABE 56 73 57 86 / 80 70 70 20 RDG 56 74 57 86 / 80 70 70 20 PHL 59 75 63 86 / 80 50 50 20 12N 56 69 57 87 / 90 70 70 20 SMQ 56 74 58 86 / 90 70 70 20 TTN 56 74 59 86 / 90 60 60 20 MIV 57 74 58 86 / 70 40 40 20 ACY 57 71 61 81 / 50 40 40 20 ILG 57 74 60 86 / 80 40 40 20 DOV 57 74 60 86 / 50 40 40 20 GED 56 74 58 86 / 50 40 40 20 ESN 57 75 61 85 / 50 40 40 20 .PHI... DE...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONE DEZ001. MD...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONE MDZ008. NJ...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES NJZ001...NJZ007>010... NJZ012>019. PA...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES PAZ054>055...PAZ060>062...PAZ067>071. RNS RNS
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 21, 4:50 AM EST, 11 hours 10 minutes before
DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055- 060>062-067>071-211100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ 550 AM EDT SAT JUN 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA...DELAWARE...THE NORTHERN MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE...AND NEW JERSEY EXCLUDING THE FIVE NORTHEAST COUNTIES. .DAY ONE...TODAY WATER LEVELS ON NUMEROUS SMALL STREAMS IN EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND NORTHERN DELAWARE REMAIN ABOVE FLOOD STAGE THIS MORNING AS A RESULT OF HEAVY RAIN ON FRIDAY. SEE FLOOD WARNING STATEMENTS UNDER WMO HEADER /WGUS41 KPHI/ FOR MORE DETAILS. A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT FOR EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA....MOST OF NEW JERSEY...NORTHERN DELAWARE...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST MARYLAND. MORNING SHOWERS WILL GIVE WAY TO THUNDERSTORMS AND WIDESPREAD SHOWERS DURING THE AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION FROM THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE HEAVY AT TIMES. WITH STREAMS IN THE REGION ALREADY HIGH FROM RECENT RAINS...ANY ADDITIONAL SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL WILL PRODUCE FLOODING. SEE FLOOD WATCH STATEMENT UNDER WMO HEADER /WGUS61 KPHI/ FOR MORE DETAILS. THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE NEW JERSEY COAST TODAY AND A LOW RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE DELAWARE COAST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. JJM
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Lightning Strike in Florida, June 21, 2003
- Tornadoes and Hail in Wyoming, June 21, 2003
- Flood in Florida, June 21 to 30, 2003
- Hail in South Dakota, June 21, 2003
- Flood in Florida, June 21 to 23, 2003
- Hail in South Dakota, June 21, 2003
- Flash Flood in Pennsylvania, June 21, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Delaware, June 21, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in North Dakota, June 21, 2003
- Tornado in Oregon, June 21, 2003
- Flash Flood in Mississippi, June 21, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Dakota, June 21, 2003
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, June 2003
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: 5376521.