Talk about rain-deer.
A Christmas Eve storm late Thursday made travel difficult even for a guy being led by a glowing red nose, as high wind gusts and heavy rain raced across the state.
For many, it was a dark night, with the winds taking down trees and power lines. As of 11:15 p.m., more than 24,200 people were without electricity across New Jersey.
Jersey Central Power & Light Co., which is often hard hit because so much of its service territory is heavily wooded, had more than 7,600 customers without power. About 2,600 of them were in Middlesex County. Public Service Electric & Gas Co., the largest electric company in the state, had nearly 8,000 customers out — more than 5,000 of them in Bergen County.
Even Bruce Springsteen was talking about the weather:
It's all cold down on the beach... The wind's whipping down the boardwalk... Hey Band! You guys know what time of year it is? https://t.co/T6wVInBkvM
— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) December 25, 2020
The National Weather Service called it a strong and complex storm, which was expected to weaken and move away over the weekend with high pressure building over the area. Forecasters were expecting 60 to 70 mph winds along the barrier island of New Jersey and into coastal portions of the state.
By Monday, another low will cross north of the area and cause a cold front to extend over the region, meteorologists said.
Here is the current radar loop. Heavier rain has entered the western half of our area. Expect heavy rain overnight into tomorrow morning with rainfall totals between 1.5 and 3.5 inches. Visit https://t.co/wTqdsoEiL9 for more details. pic.twitter.com/S0LUYPkYOO
— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) December 25, 2020
According to AccuWeather, the storm swept across the East. Unlike the storm last week, which had a fresh supply of Arctic air to tap and brought heavy snow, this time strong southerly winds drew in warmer air from the south ahead of the system.
That first major snowstorm of the season that hit New Jersey dropped more than 12 inches of powder on parts of the state. AccuWeather said this storm will likely eat away at the existing snow cover in New England and the coastal mid-Atlantic. That could add to the major flooding that is also in the forecast.
Forecasters say rivers and streams will rise with all the precipitation, possibly overspilling their banks and there’s a chance of flooding in low-lying or poor drainage areas.
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Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL.