Name: Flood in New Jersey, October 29 to 30, 2003
Start: 2003-10-29T17:52
End: 2003-10-30T18:15
Location: New Jersey

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.

For the second time in the same week, heavy rain fell across Morris County and produced poor drainage and river flooding across sections of the county. Heavier rain fell throughout the first half of the day on the 29th. Doppler Radar storm estimates were between 1.0 and 2.0 inches. While the amounts were lighter, the heavy rain that fell on the 27th left the ground saturated and unable to hold much additional rainfall. The Rockaway River below the Boonton Reservoir was above its 5 foot flood stage from 552 p.m. EST on the 29th through 615 p.m. EST on the 30th. It crested at 5.30 feet at 200 a.m. EST on the 30th. Storm totals included 1.90 inches in Long Valley, 1.85 inches in Morris Plains, 1.50 inches in Boonton and 1.42 inches in Chatham. The low pressure system responsible for the heavy rain developed in the eastern Gulf of Mexico during the morning of the 28th and moved rapidly northeast. By 7 a.m. EST on the 29th, it was just southeast of New York City.

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 29, 3:00 PM EST, 2 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 29, 3:00 PM EST, 2 hours 52 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 29, 4:30 AM EST, 13 hours 22 minutes before

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-301200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
530 AM EDT WED OCT 29 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...

A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THIS MORNING FOR SOUTHEASTERN
PENNSYLVANIA, EXTREME NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND, NORTHERN DELAWARE,
AND PARTS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW JERSEY.  RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF
ONE TO TWO INCHES ARE EXPECTED THROUGH MID MORNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

IOVINO

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 29, 5:10 PM EST, 42 minutes 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, Morris

When: October 29, 5:52 PM EST to October 30, 6:15 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)

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

More

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: 5371369.