Several North Jersey towns received well over three inches of rain in two powerful storms that moved through the area during the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.
North Arlington recorded 3.73 inches of rain as of 8:20 a.m. Sunday, according to meteorologist Joe Pollina, the highest of any municipality in the region. Montclair (3.39 inches) and Springfield (3.23 inches) both reported high totals as of 8 a.m. Sunday, while Harrison had already received 3.33 inches as of 4 p.m. Saturday.
The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for northeast New Jersey beginning at noon Sunday. The area received anywhere from 1.5 to 3.5 inches of rain in the previous 36 hours, the alert stated, with additional precipitation of up to 1.5 inches expected through Sunday evening.
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The amount of rain seems to have caught meteorologists by surprise. The NWS predicted a “pretty wet weekend” Friday but only forecast up to 1.5 inches of rain as of Saturday night, followed by a maximum of another inch into Sunday night.
Pollina confirmed that Saturday’s rainfall in particular was “a bit more than what we were looking at.” He added that most of the region was expecting another 1 to 1.5 inches by the end of Sunday, though updated totals were not available.
The weekend of rain was caused by a pair of low-pressure systems moving through the area. Saturday’s weaker system was followed by a “more potent” one Sunday, Pollina said.
