Friday rain causes flash flooding on NJ roads

TRENTON — New Jersey was pounded by heavy rain for several hours on Friday.

North Jersey and the northern end of the Jersey Shore were the hardest hit by the rain. The National Weather Service reported more than 3 inches falling in Ocean Township and Howell in Monmouth County.

"Most of New Jersey picked up a healthy inch of rainfall from Friday's storm. It poured the hardest along the eastern edge of New Jersey from Ocean and Monmouth to Bergen and Hudson counties," chief meteorologist Dan Zarrow said. "That's where 3+ inches of rain fell - impressive!"

High water along Route 508 in Kearny closed the road near the Turnpike.

Routes 35 and 36 were closed in Belmar, Keyport, Neptune and Eatontown while high standing water on the Garden State Parkway led to speed restrictions of 45 mph between Woodbridge and Lakewood.

The Daily Voice reported firefighters had to rescue a family on DuBois Street in East Rutherford. while Neptune Township police closed Route 66 in front of Home Depot when 1 to 2 feet of rain accumulated in heavy rain. A car got stuck in two feet of water.

Tweets from the City of Hoboken said that two flood pumps that have a daily capacity of 180 million gallons couldn't handle the 3 inches of rain that came down.

Winds gusted to over 40 mph along the Jersey Shore, according to the National Weather Service. Power outages were minimal, however, on the JCL&L and PSE&G website power outage maps.

State Police spokesman Lawrence Peele said there were no crashes directly attributed to the rain on roads troopers patrol.

High water at New York Penn Station took tracks 7 and 8 at the 7th Avenue concourse out of service. Forbes writer Jen Wieczner tweeted that water was falling inside the Oculus transportation hub at the World Trade Center.

Newark Liberty International Airport had delays of up to three hours on arrivals because of low clouds.

Zarroe said there could be a few more showers and fog on Friday night. "We'll probably see a round of wraparound rain on Saturday. Temperatures for both Saturday and Sunday will stay below normal for early May, generally in the 60s."

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com

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