Flood in New Jersey, February 6 to 9, 2004

Name: Flood in New Jersey, February 6 to 9, 2004
Start: 2004-02-06T13:00
End: 2004-02-09T08:24
Location: New Jersey

February 6 to 9, 2004 · 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.

The combination of heavy rain and snow melt caused poor drainage and river flooding throughout Somerset County. Heavier rain fell from the middle of the morning into the middle of the evening on the 6th. An ice jam developed on the Green Brook and dynamite was used to break the jam. Before that, water backed to Leyland Avenue in North Plainfield and flooded the basements of six homes. In Franklin Township both the Blackwells Mills and Griggstown Causeways were closed because of flooding along the Millstone River. The Millstone River at Griggstown was above its 10 foot flood stage from 206 p.m. EST on the 6th through 824 a.m. EST on the 9th. It crested at 15.31 feet at 1015 a.m. EST on the 7th. Farther downstream at Blackwells Mills, the Millstone River was above its 9 foot flood stage from 8 a.m. EST on the 7th through 353 a.m. EST on the 8th. It crested at 9.52 feet at 514 p.m. EST on the 7th. The North Branch of the Raritan River was above its 10 foot flood stage from 741 p.m. EST on the 6th through 802 a.m. EST on the 7th. It crested at 11.32 feet at 1145 p.m. EST on the 6th. Storm totals included 1.95 inches in Somerville, 1.88 inches in Pottersville, 1.80 inches in Bound Brook and 1.77 inches in Blackwells Mills. The low pressure system responsible for the heavy rain developed in the western Gulf of Mexico on the 5th. It moved northeast reaching the Tennessee Valley on the evening of the 5th and into the Great Lakes on the morning of the 6th. Its associated warm front moved north from the Carolinas on the morning of the 6th into the lower Delmarva Peninsula during the afternoon of the 6th before stalling. The occluded front associated with the primary low pressure system (It went northeast from the Great Lakes through the Saint Lawrence River Valley) moved through the region during the evening of the 6th and ended the rain. Precipitation initially started as a wintry mix before sunrise on the 6th and changed over to plain rain during the morning of the 6th.

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 Feb 6, 12:15 PM EST, 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 6, 12:15 PM EST, 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION - UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
1215 PM EST FRI FEB 6 2004

WHILE THERE ARE STILL LIKELY A FEW POCKETS OF ICE IN BERKS COUNTY,
THE LEHIGH VALLEY AND WARREN COUNTY WEVE LET THE WINTER STORM
WARNING EXPIRE THERE.  WELL KEEP IT GOING UNTIL 300 PM IN THE
POCONOS AND IN SUSSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY WHERE TEMPS ARE GENERALLY
AT OR SLIGHTLY BELOW FREEZING.

A FRONT EXTENDED FROM ABOUT SANDY HOOK TO MOUNT HOLLY TO SMYRNA DE
TO EASTON MD AT MIDDAY.  THAT BOUNDARY SEPARATES MILD AIR BUILDING
IN FROM THE OCEAN FROM THE REMNANTS OF THE RIDGE THAT EXTENDED DOWN
THE LEE OF THE APPALACHIANS.  OUR THINKING IS THAT THE HEAVY RAIN
WILL CONTINUE TO SCOUR OUT MUCH OF THE LEFTOVER COLD AIR TO THE
NORTHWEST OF THE FRONT ALLOWING MOST LOCATIONS TO GET WELL UP INTO
THE 30S IF NOT INTO THE LOWER 40S.

.PHI WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
PA...WINTER STORM WARNING EARLY THIS AFTERNOON PAZ054-055.
     FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON INTO SAT PAZ060>062-067>071.
NJ...WINTER STORM WARNING EARLY THIS AFTERNOON NJZ001.
     FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON INTO SAT NJZ007>010-012-013-015>019.
DE...FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON INTO SAT DEZ001.
MD...FLOOD WATCH THIS AFTERNOON INTO SAT MDZ008.
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FROM SANDY HOOK NJ TO FENWICK ISLAND DE
          AND FOR LOWER DELAWARE BAY.

IOVINO

Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 6, 5:25 AM EST, 7 hours 35 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
525 AM EST FRI FEB 6 2004

DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-061215-
ATLANTIC NJ-ATLANTIC COASTAL CAPE MAY NJ-BERKS PA-BUCKS PA-CAMDEN NJ-
CAPE MAY NJ-CARBON PA-CAROLINE MD-CECIL MD-CHESTER PA-
COASTAL ATLANTIC NJ-COASTAL OCEAN NJ-CUMBERLAND NJ-DELAWARE PA-
DELAWARE BEACHES DE-EASTERN MONMOUTH NJ-GLOUCESTER NJ-HUNTERDON NJ-
INLAND SUSSEX DE-KENT MD-KENT DE-LEHIGH PA-MERCER NJ-MIDDLESEX NJ-
MONROE PA-MONTGOMERY PA-MORRIS NJ-NEW CASTLE DE-NORTHAMPTON PA-
NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON NJ-OCEAN NJ-PHILADELPHIA PA-QUEEN ANNES MD-
SALEM NJ-SOMERSET NJ-SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON NJ-SUSSEX NJ-TALBOT MD-
WARREN NJ-WESTERN MONMOUTH NJ-
525 AM EST FRI FEB 6 2004

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 WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE LEHIGH VALLEY
IN PENNSYLVANIA AND WARREN COUNTY IN NEW JERSEY THIS MORNING...
AND FOR THE SOUTHERN POCONOS IN PENNSYLVANIA AND SUSSEX COUNTY
IN NEW JERSEY INTO THE AFTERNOON. SOUTH OF THE WARNING AREA...
EXCEPT FOR CAPE MAY COUNTY AND COASTAL ZONES IN NEW JERSEY AND
SUSSEX COUNTY IN DELAWARE...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORIES ARE IN
EFFECT THIS MORNING FOR FREEZING RAIN. A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN
EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON INTO SATURDAY FOR NORTHERN DELAWARE,
EXTREME NORTHEASTERN MARYLAND, SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, AND
MUCH OF SOUTHWESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW JERSEY.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

ANOTHER STORM COULD AFFECT THE REGION TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO
WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO CALL
IN REPORTS OF FREEZING PRECIPITATION AND SNOW AMOUNTS.

RPW

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: February 6, 1:00 PM EST to February 9, 8:24 AM 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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, February 2004

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: 5392837.