‘Compact, potent’ storms knock out power in NJ on Monday night

It was Monmouth and Middlesex counties' turn to get hit by strong thunderstorms on Monday night, knocking out power to thousands of homes.

The storm brought gusty winds up to 67 mph to Port Monmouth and 61 mph in Keansburg and Sandy Hook, according to the National Weather Service. There was also half-inch hail reported in Perth Amboy, Jamesburg and Keansburg.

New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow called it yet another complex of strong summer thunderstorms that were compact but potent.

"It really sharpened up as it approached the warm, humid air near the coast. Luckily, it was moving fast, so Monmouth County saw only a quick burst of wind and rain and then quiet weather for the rest of the night," Zarrow said.

A tree fell on a car parked at the Extended Stay Hotel in the Fords section of Woodbridge according to Woodbridge Mayor John MacCormac.

Middletown Mayor Tony Perry said trees hit the roofs of houses on Leonard Avenue and Southside Avenue in Middletown. There were no injuries to the occupants.

Atlantic Highlands councilman Jon Crowley told New Jersey 101.5 his borough was especially hard hit with impassable streets, downed trees and power lines and trees into houses. The elementary school and Henry Hudson Regional High School were closed due to storm damage.

"It was crazy here last night-- hail, more lightning than I've ever seen and very powerful winds," Crowley said.

Atlantic Highlands police said that the area around the elementary school is closed because of downed high tension power lines.

A photo showed the Seastreak parking lot with high standing water on Monday night after the storm passed. There was no impact on service on Tuesday.

Branches were also reported on Route 36 in Middletown while South Brunswick police reported trees down on Route 522 at Ridge Road and on Heathcote Road.

There’s over 9,700 JCP&L customers in Monmouth County (Atlantic Highlands, Middletown, Marlboro) without power following Monday night’s thunderstorms, according to the utility's outage map as of 5 a.m. JCP&L spokesman Christopher Hoenig said 79,000 customers lost power in the hours after the storm.

PSE&G's outage map showed less than 1,000 customers in the dark as of 5 a.m. across its service area. Earlier Princeton and North Brunswick has the most outages.

NJ Transit is not reporting any service issues because of the storms.

"We'll catch a break in the stormy weather for most of Tuesday and Wednesday, before our weather turns unsettled, damp, and dreary later this week," Zarrow said.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ