Flood in New Jersey, October 27 to 28, 2003

Name: Flood in New Jersey, October 27 to 28, 2003
Start: 2003-10-27T20:00
End: 2003-10-28T18:14
Location: New Jersey

October 27 to 28, 2003 · NWS PHI · 1 event in 1 county or zone

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

Showers and thunderstorms with heavy rain associated with a slow moving cold front produced low lying area and poor drainage flooding as well as river flooding in Somerset County. Causeways were closed due to flooding along the Millstone River. The heaviest rain fell during the afternoon and early evening. Doppler Radar storm total estimates were around two inches. The North Branch of the Raritan River at South Branch was above its 6.9 foot flood stage from 8 p.m. EST on the 27th through 4 a.m. EST on the 28th. It crested at 8.0 feet at Midnight EST on the 28th. The Millstone River at Griggstown was above its 10 foot flood stage from 804 p.m. EST on the 27th through 614 p.m. EST on the 28th. It crested at 10.93 feet at 430 a.m. EST on the 28th. Storm totals included 3.13 inches in Pottersville, 2.20 inches in Somerville, 2.16 inches in Basking Ridge and 1.32 inches in Blackwells Mills.

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 Oct 27, 7:06 PM EST, 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 27, 7:06 PM EST, 54 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 27, 3:48 PM EST, 4 hours 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
448 PM EDT MON OCT 27 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0315 PM    DELAWARE                  NJ   TORNADO
10/27/03   HUNTERDON                      POSSIBLE TORNADO.

0320 PM    BENSALEM                  PA   WIND DAMAGE
10/27/03   BUCKS                          LARGE TREES SNAPPED OFF.
                                          ESTIMATED 80+ MPH WIND.

0340 PM    EWING                     NJ   WIND DAMAGE
10/27/03   MERCER                         BRANCHES DOWN.

0345 PM    HAINESPORT                NJ   WIND DAMAGE
10/27/03   BURLINGTON                     TREES BLOWN DOWN. 1
                                          PERSON INJURED IN
                                          VEHICLE.

0345 PM    MOUNT HOLLY               NJ   FUNNEL CLOUD
10/27/03   BURLINGTON                     FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED.
                                          TREE LIMBS DOWN AND
                                          DEBRIS AT ROUTE 38 AND
                                          ROUTE 541.

0355 PM    NEW BRUNSWICK             NJ   FUNNEL CLOUD
10/27/03   MIDDLESEX                      FUNNEL CLOUDS SIGHTED.

0352 PM    LUMBERTON                 NJ   50 MPH TSTM GUST
10/27/03   BURLINGTON                     MEASURED PEAK GUST TO 54
                                          MPH.

0355 PM    HAMILTON SQUARE           NJ   WIND DAMAGE
10/27/03   MERCER                         TREES BLOWN DOWN. SOME
                                          ROADS REPORTED CLOSED.

0400 PM    NEW BRUNSWICK             NJ   FUNNEL CLOUD
10/27/03   MIDDLESEX                      FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED
                                          TOWARD HIGHLAND PARK.

0415 PM    LAWRENCEVILLE             NJ   WIND DAMAGE
10/27/03   MERCER                         ABOUT A DOZEN TREES
                                          DOWNED.

Local storm report, Oct 27, 6:00 PM EST, 2 hours before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Somerset

When: October 27, 8:00 PM EST to October 28, 6:14 PM EST
Where: Somerset forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates: 40.564, -74.616 (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.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Jersey in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, October 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5371980.