Flood Watch in Effect for Central Jersey from Late Thursday Afternoon to Friday Morning
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—Week Four around the Big Central Conference again will start with a game on Thursday night. This time the BCC Thursday night game will be at Basilone Field in Bridgewater where the 7th ranked Panthers of Bridgewater-Raritan will host 4th ranked Hillsborough in the Battle of Route 206. The game will be broadcasted live on Central Jersey Sports Radio starting at 7:00 PM weather permitting.
We say weather permitting since the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, New Jersey has issued a Flash Flood Watch for much of the Big Central Conference coverage area from late Thursday afternoon to early Friday morning. Forecasts have indicated rainfall amounts could range between 1 and 3 inches. The further west you go, the more problems you could encounter.
Forecasts from the National Weather Service’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Forecast Center indicated parts of Pennsylvania could see as much as another 4 to 6 inches. With the ground still a bit saturated from recent rains including those from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fred, Tropical Storm Henri, and Hurricane Ida, and the flooding that resulted from Ida’s remnants still fresh in people’s minds, it is important to be prepared for possible flash flooding.
The Flash Flood Watch is in effect for Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren counties. There could also be locally higher rainfall amounts in the watch area as well. Currently, the Raritan River at Manville is at 4.42 feet, and is forecast to rise up to 7.2 feet by Thursday afternoon and evening. Flood stage is 14 feet. Meanwhile, the Raritan River at Bound Brook is currently at 17.4 feet, and is expected to rise up to 20.6 feet by Thursday afternoon and evening. Flood stage is at 28 feet.
Now, there are three games on tap around New Jersey on Thursday:
- Northern Highlands at Paterson Eastside
- Hillsborough at Bridgewater-Raritan
- Harrison at Palisades Park
The Hillsbourgh vs. Bridgewater-Raritan game is scheduled to start within the Flash Flood Watch window. Looking at the latest NWS Mount Holly Forecast for Hillsborough indicate a 50 to 80 percent chance of rain during the day on Thursday, and then up to a 90 percent chance of rain on Thursday night. Rainfall amounts during the day on Thursday are expected to be between 0.25 and 0.5 inches. The rainfall amounts increase on Thursday night to be between one to two inches.
In addition, there is a chance of a thunderstorm in the Hillsborough area on Thursday night. Some of the storms could produce gusty winds and heavy rain according to the NWS. As you know with thunderstorms, especially during this portion of the football season, there is the chance of lightning, which could cause a delay.
On August 28th, Big Central Gridiron was at Carey Field in Ocean City when Thunderstorms developed and produced lightning that caused the Battle at the Beach game between Bernards and Penns Grove to be delayed two hours. The next day, all three final day contests were moved from Ocean City to Cherry Hill and Camden Catholic due to Flash Flooding.
Late Wednesday afternoon, we had a season change here in Central Jersey as well as the rest of the Northern Hemisphere. At 3:21 PM EDT, Fall began. Now this is astronomical fall, not meteorological fall, which actually began on September 1st. We are also still in peak hurricane season, and have four tropical features being monitored in the Atlantic at the moment.
Right now, there are two tropical storms, Peter and Rose, a tropical depression (TD #18), and a disturbance in the North Central Atlantic that has a medium chance (40 to 60 percent) of development over the next 48 hours to 5 days. Peak hurricane season still has another couple weeks left and then there is a secondary peak around the middle of October. Atlantic Hurricane Season lasts until November 30th.
