With Memorial Day Weekend and the unofficial start to summer this past weekend, we've gotten summer-like weather to go along with it. And this afternoon, heavy storms crippled some roads in Ocean County.

As the day progressed and the heat and humidity ramped up, a line of thunderstorms dumped rain on Ocean County faster than it could drain and flooded major roadways, bringing traffic to a halt, like these scenes from Route 37 today.

Ralph Stocco, Public Information Officer for Toms River Police, says 20-30 people became trapped in their vehicles east of Vaughn Avenue, as Route 37 and several other streets became impassable. Specialized high water rescue units were used to rescue the trapped drivers.  No injuries were reported or expected. He stressed that no life was in danger at anytime.

"All of these vehicles are disabled as a result of trying to pass through areas where the water level had risen rapidly on the roadways," said Stocco, noting that the western side of Toms River saw no rain at all.

Photo by Lauren Bigica
Photo by Lauren Bigica
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Meteorologist Dan Zarrow says the storms formed as a result of a sea breeze front - the dividing line between the cooler marine air, and the incredible warm and humid inland air mass. "Lacking any steering forces, the storm 'trained' - or reformed over the same area - for several hours, producing several inches of rain in a short period of time," explained Zarrow.

A second cell developed along the Ocean/Burlington County line that was not as strong as the earlier storm.

Photo by Lauren Bigica
Photo by Lauren Bigica
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