Major flooding and power outages throughout Central Jersey from nor'easter

Mike Deak, MyCentralJersey.com
Updated ·6 min read

Route 22 emergency construction

Emergency construction on eastbound Route 22 at Thompson Avenue in Bridgewater has closed the left lane during rush hour on one of Central Jersey's busiest highways.

The state Department of Transportation says traffic is delayed by 10 minutes, but local roads in Somerville and Bridgewater have become clogged with motorists trying to avoid the delay.

Flood warnings in Central Jersey remain in effect

Several flood warnings are still in effect for the Raritan Valley region of Central Jersey.

The flood warning for the Raritan River at Manville and Bound Brook will be in effect until 2 p.m. Tuesday.

The river at Bound Brook is expected to crest at 8 p.m. Monday at 32.4 feet, 4 feet above flood stage.

The river at Manville is also predicted to crest at 8 p.m. at 19 feet, about 5 feet above flood stage.

A flood warning for rivers and streams in Hunterdon County will expire at 8 p.m. tonight.

The flood warning for the Millstone River at Blackwells Mills in Hillsborough is not expected to expire before 1 a.m. Wednesday. The river is expected to crest at 13.9 feet at 2 a.m. Tuesday, almost 5 feet above flood stage.

The Green Brook in Watchung and Plainfield has already crested. In Plainfield, the crest was 9.94 feet, 2 feet above flood stage.

Weather forecast

The sun has come out in Somerset County as the powerful nor’easter moves quickly away.

The appearance of the sun marks the beginning of a relatively tranquil and dull period of weather in the week before Christmas.

And there is no sign of snow before Christmas.

Though gusty winds are predicted to remain in Central Jersey through Wednesday, the National Weather Service is forecasting sunny and partly sunny skies with no precipitation through Christmas Eve.

Temperatures will start near normal Tuesday and Wednesday in the low 40s, warm a little into the upper 40s on Thursday, then drop down into the lower 40s on Friday and Saturday before reaching the upper 40s on Sunday.

Long-range computer models show Christmas Day to be sunny to partly sunny with a high between 45 and 50.

The latest run of the American forecast model hints at a light snowfall on Dec. 29 with a heavier snowfall on Jan. 3. But those forecasts more than five days out should be taken with a grain of salt (table salt, not road salt).

Power outages in Central Jersey Monday afternoon

As of 1 p.m., PSE&G is reporting 5,675 customers in its service area without power. There are 1,754 customers in Woodbridge in the Green Avenue area north of Route 1 affected. There are also 53 customers affected in East Brunswick.

Jersey Central Power & Light is reporting 23,263 customers without power in its service area.

In Middlesex County, there are 513 customers in Old Bridge affected, 218 in Monroe, 29 in East Brunswick, 17 in South Amboy and 13 in Spotswood.

In Somerset County, there are 881 customers without lights. Hardest hit is Bernardsville with 392 customers, Far Hills with 372 customers, Bernards with 89, Bedminster with 23, Hillsborough with 20 and Warren with 11.

There are 336 customers without power in Hunterdon County: Clinton Township with 76, Delaware Township with 71, Holland with 56, Alexandria with 53, Tewksbury with 18 and Kingwood with 17.

In Union County, there are 56 customers affected in New Providence.

Rain totals in Central Jersey

The rainfall amounts in Central Jersey ranged from 3.53 inches to 4.42 inches, according to the National Weather Service.

Middlesex County

  • East Brunswick: 4.21 inches

  • South River: 4.20 inches

  • Cranbury: 4.42 inches

  • Highland Park: 3.99 inches

Somerset County

  • Bound Brook: 3.82 inches

  • Blackwells Mills (Hillsborough): 4.10 inches

  • South Branch (Hillsborough); 3.62 inches

  • Bedminster: 3.53 inches

Hunterdon County

  • Raritan Township: 4 inches

  • Clinton Township: 3.92 inches

  • Tewksbury: 3.80 inches

  • Frenchtown: 3.72 inches

Union County

  • Cranford: 3.68 inches

Flooding behind the post office on Washington Road in Milltown.
Flooding behind the post office on Washington Road in Milltown.

Green Brook declares state of emergency

Flooding has been reported on the following roads in Green Brook: Madison Avenue at Greenbrook Road, Jefferson Avenue at Greenbrook Road, Washington Avenue south of Greenbrook Road, Greenbrook Road from Warrenville Road to Washington Avenue, Greenbrook Road from Mountain Parkway to Cramer Avenue.

Police say all vehicles must stay away from these areas.

Power outages in Central Jersey

Thousands of customers in New Jersey are without power as the nor'easter begins to leave the area.

Jersey Central Power & Light is reporting 29,677 customers without power in their service area.

The hardest hit area is Old Bridge with 713 customers without electricity.

In all, there are 1,116 JCP&L affected customers in Middlesex County. There are 230 outages in Monroe and 139 outages in East Brunswick.

In Hunterdon, there are 488 outages, with the hardest hit area is Kingwood, with 102 outages. There are 88 outages in Alexandria, 83 in Lebanon Township and 75 in Delaware Township.

JCP&L reporting 349 affected customers in Somerset County. The outages are concentrated in the Somerset Hills area with 104 outages in Bernardsville, 93 in Bedminster, 91 in Bernards and 17 in Peapack-Gladstone. There are also 26 affected customers in Hillsborough.

PSE&G is reporting 465 outages in its service area with 8,043 customers affected.

The major outage is in the northwestern section of South Plainfield where there are 742 customers without power.

Most of the other outages are scattered, with 13 customers without lights in North Plainfield.=

Widespread flooding in Central Jersey

Central Jersey woke up to widespread flooding as one of the most powerful nor'easters in recent years continues to batter the area.

With 3 of inches of rain falling overnight, roads are flooded throughout the area and rivers are reaching flood stage.

The Elm Street Bridge connecting Branchburg and Hillsborough over South Branch of Raritan River, shown Monday morning.
The Elm Street Bridge connecting Branchburg and Hillsborough over South Branch of Raritan River, shown Monday morning.

The National Weather Service has issued flood warnings throughout Central Jersey.

Police are advising residents to stay at home because highways are flooding throughout Central Jersey. Route 1 is flooded in South Brunswick, Route 22 is flooded in Watchung and Readington, and Route 202 is flooded in Raritan Township.

The Raritan River is nearing flood stage in Manville. At 6 a.m. the river had reached 10.95 feet; flood stage is 12 feet. The National Weather Service is expecting the river to crest at 16.8 feet at 6 p.m. Monday with moderate flooding. That is 10 feet below the crest from the remnants of Hurricane Ida in 2021.

The Raritan River near Bound Brook has already reached 25.78 feet, which is near the 28-foot flood stage. The river is not expected to crest until 6 p.m. Monday at 30.9 feet, about 12 feet less than Ida.

The North Branch of the Raritan River at South Branch in Hillsborough is already a foot over flood stage.

The Millstone River at Blackwells Mills at 6 a.m. had reached 7 feet with flood stage at 9 feet. The river is expected to crest at midnight at 11.6 feet.

Temperatures are unseasonably mild in the 60s a few days before the start of winter.

The rain is expected to taper off by 1 p.m.

Somerville, Hunterdon Central Branchburg public schools are closed. Readington, Bedminster, North Plainfield, Clinton and Tewksbury schools have a delayed opening.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: NJ flooding and power outages across Central Jersey after nor'easter