Power Outage in Atlantic City, NJ

Power lines reported down in the Folsom area. Time estimated from radar.

Several reports of power lines down in the area. Time estimated from radar.

Lightning from a line of thunderstorms caused about 600 homes and businesses to lose power in Atlantic County with a few dozen additional outages in Cape May and Cumberland Counties. Traffic lights were out along the Black Horse Pike (U.S. Routes 40 and 322) in Egg Harbor Township.

A gust front outrunning a cluster of severe thunderstorms entered near Buena in western Atlantic County at approximately 12:49 am EDT on the 30th. This gust front produced damaging wind gusts estimated from 65 to 70 mph as it traversed eastward across the county. Within approximately 20 minutes of the gust front passage, a potent line of severe thunderstorms tracked eastward into Atlantic County. One thunderstorm cell in particular experienced rapid intensification and expansion as it tracked across the eastern part of the county. Destructive wind gusts, measured around 75 mph, resulted in significant tree and power line damage county-wide. Based on the extensive damage, winds were estimated to be as high as 90 mph in areas across the county. There were seven homes that were destroyed, forty-nine that suffered major damage, fifty-two that suffered minor damage and forty-two that were affected.||Several wind gusts in association with the gust front passage or cluster of intense thunderstorms were measured across the county by trained spotters, mesonet sites, and ASOS equipment. The strongest measured wind gust across Atlantic County was recorded in Absecon at 74 mph by a retired NWS employee at 1:05 am EDT on the 30th. Several locations in nearby Atlantic City also recorded significant wind gusts. A 66 mph gust was measured at a mesonet station in Atlantic City at 1:11 am EDT on the 30th. At the Atlantic City Marina, a 64 mph gust was measured by the NOS platform at 2:00 am EDT. The ASOS equipment at the Atlantic City International Airport (KACY) recorded a wind gust of 58 mph at 1:13 am EDT. Elsewhere, a 64 mph gust was measured at a mesonet station in Mullica Township at 1:15 am EDT, and a 60 mph gust was recorded in Estell Manor by a NWS cooperative observer at 1:00 am EDT. Finally, a 50 mph gust was measured by a resident in Somers Point at 1:00 am EDT. Severe thunderstorms exited eastern Atlantic County, including Atlantic City, at approximately 2:02 am EDT on the 30th.||Extensive damage occurred across Atlantic county as a result of the strong wind gusts associated with the gust front and cluster of severe thunderstorms, and a State of Emergency was declared in the county. An idle 727 aircraft was moved and damaged by the derecho at the Atlantic City International Airport. Numerous large trees and electric wires were knocked down in many communities, including Estell Manor, Northfield, Mays Landing, Egg Harbor City, Hamilton Township, Galloway Township, Linwood, Margate City, Egg Harbor Township, Ventnor City, Longport, and Atlantic City. As a result, much of the county was affected by long-term power outages, and numerous roads were impassable. Atlantic City Electric reported approximately 105,000 of its customers lost power. In addition to the widespread tree and power line damage, structural damage was also significant across the county, with trees blown down onto houses in Buena and Absecon and shingles blown off of homes in Somers Point. Thousands of customers experienced power outages for about one week. Approximately 1,400 Atlantic City Electric customers that had lost power during the early morning of June 30th did not have their electricity restored until July 8th. Several communities, including Linwood, Egg Harbor Township, Galloway Township, and Brigantine, provided air-conditioned cooling centers as temperatures soared into the 90s during the week following the derecho.

A second severe thunderstorm produced estimated wind gusts of around 65 mph in Folsom Borough. Trees and power lines were knocked down.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down trees along U.S. Route 206 in Hammonton Township. About 2,300 homes and businesses lost power in the township.

A severe thunderstorm tore down several trees across central Atlantic County. About 3,000 homes and businesses lost power in Atlantic County because of the damaging winds and lightning.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down a large tree in Hamilton Township. The same thunderstorm knocked down tree limbs and tossed and killed a couple of chickens in Egg Harbor Township. Scattered power outages were reported in Atlantic County.

A line of thunderstorms preceding a cold front during the afternoon of the 11th caused isolated wind damage, mainly in the northern part of New Jersey. Lightning strikes caused power outages in southeastern New Jersey.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down large tree limbs and power lines that caused scattered outages in Hammonton Township.

A severe thunderstorm caused wind damage from Weymouth Township east to the coast around Atlantic City. The same thunderstorm dropped golf ball size as it passed across Egg Harbor Township and produced a funnel cloud that did not touch down in Mays Landing (Hamilton Township). About 5,000 Conectiv Electric customers lost power. The worst wind damage occurred around Tenth Street in Dorothy (Weymouth Township). A swath of trees were knocked down. Downed trees caused roof damage to two homes and one camper suffered substantial damage. In Estell Manor, a wind gust to 58 mph was measured. Downed trees caused the closure of a couple of roads including State Route 50. Two large trees were uprooted in Margate and a wind gust to 59 mph was measured at the Ocean Life Center in Atlantic City.

A squall line of showers produced wind gusts as strong as 58 mph across eastern parts of Atlantic County. A measured peak wind gust of 58 mph was recorded at the Atlantic City International Airport. Downed wires and fallen trees were reported in Margate, Pleasantville and Somers Point. A drain pipe was pulled from a house in Atlantic City. Power outages were concentrated in Atlantic City, Ventnor, Margate and Longport. Conectiv Energy reported about 4,700 of its customers lost power in southern New Jersey from Ocean County to Cape May County.The low pressure system that helped mix the near hurricane force winds aloft down to the surface moved from the lower Chesapeake Bay at 4 p.m. EST on the 14th to Delaware Bay at 7 p.m. EST on the 14th to Hammonton, New Jersey at 10 p.m. EST on the 14th and then just south of Jones Beach, New York at 1 a.m. EST on the 15th.

A line of severe thunderstorms produced a damaging microburst and macroburst in eastern Atlantic County in Pleasantville and Absecon Cities respectively as well as wind damage in Linwood, Northfield and Atlantic Cities. In Pleasantville, about a dozen 65 foot tall, twenty inch thick, one ton electrical transmission poles were snapped like toothpicks along Delilah Road. Uninjured motorists had to abandon five vehicles in the middle of the snapped poles. They were transmitting 69,000 volts of electricity. The bridge into Pleasantville via U.S. Route 30 was closed through the evening of the 15th until the poles were removed. In Absecon, the macroburst produced wind damage in a three mile long by one mile wide area in the city. The most concentrated damage was along Wynnewood Drive, Park Avenue and Read Road. More than 40 large trees were knocked down and damaged about a half dozen homes and vehicles. A road billboard was reduced to splinters. Flag poles were knocked down. The roof of a boat shop was torn away and the subsequent debris and rain damaged the boats in the show room. A local Home Depot had its air conditioning units blown off the roof and its rear doors ripped away. Downed trees and poles were reported in Atlantic City, Linwood and Northfield. Conectiv Energy reported about 38,000 of its customers lost power because of the severe thunderstorm in southeastern New Jersey.

A powerful line of severe thunderstorms uprooted trees and knocked down wires in Hammonton and Mullica Townships. About 2,000 homes and businesses in the two townships lost power.

Lightning strikes injured one person and damaged a couple of structures in the city of Brigantine. Lightning struck a house under construction. It then struck a construction worker at the site and injured him. Another lightning strike hit a garage. The ensuing fire damaged the garage and garage roof and then spread to the home. The porch roof and exterior walls of the house were damaged before the fire was extinguished. Damage to the home was estimated at $25,000. Lightning also struck a hotel roof antenna. Guests were evacuated from the hotel. No fire occurred, but heavy rain damaged one room. Brigantine beach patrol's radio tower was also struck by lightning as were two radio stations' antennas. About 1,200 Conectiv homes and businesses lost power in Brigantine, Northfield and Egg Harbor Township.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down numerous trees, tree limbs and wires across the northwest half of Atlantic County. The combination of wind and lightning caused about 15,000 Conectiv Energy customers in the county to lose power that afternoon and evening. Most were restored by midnight that night, the rest during the day on the 7th.

Damaging winds tore down large tree limbs and power lines in Hammonton.

An F1 tornado caused wind damage in Somers Point and Linwood. About six homes were damaged by the tornado. More than 30 trees were either uprooted or badly twisted. Electrical, telephone and cable wires were knocked down. Siding was ripped off several houses and one porch was badly damaged. At least one vehicle was damaged by downed trees. About 400 Conectiv customers lost power. Strongest winds were estimated at about 90 mph in Somers Point. The tornado apparently touched down as a waterspout over Patcong Creek and then moved into Somers Point. It crossed the Garden State Parkway near mile marker 30.4. The first observed wind damage were trees down on Bala Drive. Wind damage also occurred on Bucknell and Exton Roads. On Bucknell Road, a boat was tossed 90 feet into a neighbor's yard. The tornado traveled eastnortheast down Southview Drive across Chapman Boulevard. It was this location where it reached its maximum intensity, badly damaged a porch and uprooted several large trees. The tornado proceeded to move through Crestview Drive, across U.S. Route 9, Euclid Avenue and Abbey Road before entering Linwood near West Royal Drive. Trash cans were flying in circular motions. The last property damage occurred in Linwood near Candlewood Drive where a couple of bird house poles were bent and twisted. The tornado continued on the ground through the marshes before it dissipated as a waterspout over Scull Bay. The total path length was about 3.6 miles. The tornado was not on the ground its entire length. Its maximum width was about 100 yards. No serious injuries were reported.

The remnants of Tropical Storm Allison produced showers and thunderstorms with heavy rain during the morning of the 17th. This caused small stream and poor drainage flooding in the county. Gusty winds also knocked down weak tree limbs and wires. Both the Black Horse (U.S. Routes 40 & 322) and the White Horse (U.S. Route 30) Pikes were closed between the mainland and Atlantic City. In Ventnor, emergency service personnel were pushing vehicles from waist high water. There were other road closures in Egg Harbor and Galloway Townships. The flooding was so severe in Galloway Township, that the Absecon Estates development became an island. About 13,000 Conectiv customers lost power. Storm totals included 4.60 inches in Absecon, 4.00 inches in Margate, 3.74 inches in Estell Manor and 3.51 inches at the Atlantic City Marina. The peak wind gust at the Atlantic City Marina was 44 mph and at the International Airport it was 41 mph. The low pressure system that was the remnants of Tropical Storm Allison, was very persistent and slow moving. It moved from northeast North Carolina the afternoon of the 15th to near Norfolk the morning of the 16th to the Virginia Capes during the afternoon of the 16th and just east of Atlantic City during the morning of the 17th.

A severe thunderstorm knocked down a couple of trees in Egg Harbor City. About 100 Conectiv Energy customers lost power and it was restored by early the next morning.

An unseasonably warm air mass and an intense low pressure system and cold front set the stage for an extremely windy day across New Jersey on December 17th. Thunderstorms embedded within bands of heavy precipitation exacerbated the wind and in some instances became severe. This was the case in Galloway Township in Atlantic County. A severe thunderstorm lifted a shed into the middle of a swimming pool. A large tree damaged one fence. A couple of downed trees and wires closed a few township roads. A few wires were also pulled down in Longport Borough. Conectiv Energy reported about 8,500 customers lost power throughout Southern New Jersey.