Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Elizabeth, NJ

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Newark International Airport, NJ, 3 miles northeast of Elizabeth at 7 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 69°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 26°F. July is the wettest at 4.7 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 46.6 inches over 76 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 52% of the year's precipitation (24.1 of 46.6 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 45 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (21); a normal September there has highs of 78°F and 3.8 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 28 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 80 nights a year. Snowfall averages 31.5 inches a year, most of it in February. That 46.6 inches is more than at 16 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (31%). Roselle, 3 miles west, has its own station (Cranford, NJ): 50.4 inches a year, 3.8 more than here, and a July average high of 86°F against 87°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station The Battery, NY, 11 miles east, averaged 74°F in August and 39°F in February over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Bergen Point tide gauge, 4 miles from Elizabeth, has risen 1.86 ± 0.13 inches per decade from 1981 to 2024, NOAA's linear trend; at that pace it is 18.6 inches in a hundred years. That is faster than at 114 of the 144 U.S. gauges with a NOAA trend.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 782 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Elizabeth: 392 thunderstorm wind reports, 290 flash floods, 68 floods, 25 lightning strikes and 7 heavy rain events. They killed 18 people and injured 27, and the NWS estimated $124.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 104 mph, on June 10, 2008. July has had the most flash floods, 101 of 290. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 371 have had fewer than Elizabeth.

Flood insurance policyholders in Elizabeth's 4 ZIP codes have filed 311 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1978, and were paid $7.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Ida in 2021: 26 claims (8% of all) and $2.9 million, then Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 15 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 with 13. The year with the most claims was 1983, with 71. 30% of the claims carry the name of a storm or flood event; the rest have no event name. Of the 395 New Jersey cities on this site with 10 or more claims, 299 have fewer than Elizabeth.