N.J. weather: More heavy rain to drench state, sparking flood alerts and wind warnings

Keep your umbrellas handy and your windshield wipers flapping. Multiple rounds of rain are on the way during the next two days — adding more water to New Jersey’s already saturated ground and prompting the National Weather Service to issue a series of flood watches, coastal flood warnings and wind alerts.

Some areas of the Garden State have already been hit with more than an inch of rain during the past 24 hours, and forecasters are predicting another 1 to 3 inches of rain between Tuesday afternoon and late Thursday as a slow-moving storm system from the west continues moving across our region — followed by a coastal storm near the Mid-Atlantic region that’s expected to strengthen Wednesday and Thursday.

All the runoff from the existing rain, coupled with the additional rain that’s heading our way, will put about two dozen river and stream locations at risk of reaching or exceeding flood stage in parts of Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Salem, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties, according to the National Weather Service.

NJ weather - strong April storm impacts — Forecasters are predicting another 1 to 3 inches of rain this week in areas of New Jersey that have already been saturated by batches of rain on Monday and Tuesday.National Weather Service

Those counties have all been placed under a flood watch, effective from Wednesday morning through Thursday afternoon.

On top of the threat of river and stream flooding, heavy downpours could spark flash flooding on some roads and highways, forecasters noted.

In addition, a coastal flood warning has been issued for coastal areas of Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties, effective from 1 a.m. Wednesday through 10 a.m. Thursday, and a coastal flood advisory for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.

“One to two feet of inundation above ground level (is) expected in low-lying areas near shorelines and tidal waterways,” the weather service said in its coastal flood warning.

Strong damaging winds expected

When the coastal storm picks up in intensity on Wednesday, winds will be ramping up, forecasters said, especially in areas close to the Atlantic coast and Raritan Bay.

The weather service has issued a high wind warning for Monmouth County, a high wind watch for Hudson County and a wind advisory for Middlesex and Ocean counties, where easterly winds of 20 to 30 mph are expected to gust as high as 45 to 50 mph in the advisory areas and as strong as 55 to 65 mph in the warning areas.

The wind advisories and high wind warning will be effective from 8 a.m. Wednesday through 10 p.m. Wednesday.

A wind advisory has also been issued for Bergen, Essex, Passaic and Union counties, effective from 11 a.m. Wednesday through 5 a.m. Thursday.

NJ weather - threat of significant hail — The national Storm Prediction Center says parts of southern New Jersey could get significant hail Tuesday night, April 2, and also on Wednesday, April 3, as strong rain storms move across our region.Storm Prediction Center

Added to the mix of weather threats, forecasters say some thunderstorms may develop and produce strong damaging wind gusts, and they can’t rule out the possibility of large hail and isolated tornadoes — especially in the South Jersey region.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the national Storm Prediction Center says there’s a 5% to 14% probability of significant hail (larger than 2 inches in diameter) in parts of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties on Tuesday and Wednesday.