Feeling Like Spring/ Flood Safety Awareness

Area Forecast- Union NJ
March 17 to March 21

We are definitely drying out from the low pressure this past weekend, which brought strong winds and heavy rain to many parts of the area. Atlantic City reported gusts of up to 65 mph on Saturday and almost 6 inches of rain was reported at New Vernon in Morris County. Downed trees, large branches and downed power lines were reported in some areas, as well as flooding and power outages. This week looks to be dry and and a nice transition to Spring as high pressure from our west moves into the region for St. Patrick's Day. We can expect sunny skies and a high near 63. For Thursday we can expect sunny skies and a high near 65. Thursday night a backdoor cold front will be moving into the region as we can expect partly cloudy skies and a high near 42. That cold front will move to the north as a warm front approaches the area on Friday. We can expect mostly sunny skies and a high near 63. High pressure off the coast will move into the region Friday night as we can expect mostly sunny skies and a high near 64 for Saturday (the official start of Spring). Low for Saturday night around 41. For Sunday we can expect partly sunny skies and a high near 60. A cold front approaches slowly from the west as we can expect a slight chance of showers for Sunday night, low around 42.

As I mentioned earlier, flooding was reported in some areas as a result with this past storm. March 15 through the 19th is National Flood Awareness Week. The goal of this week is to educate the public about the dangers of flooding, how they occur, and how to stay safe from this phenomenon. Floods are the number one natural disaster in the United States, and many of flood-related deaths occur in vehicles. It is important to toward around if there is flooded water in front of you, if you are driving or walking. In fact six inches of water is enough to float a car and it can be swept away in 18 to 24 inches of water. More information can be found here. Stay safe!