Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Somerset, NJ

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is New Brunswick 3 SE, NJ, 5 miles southeast of Somerset at 111 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 87°F and low of 66°F; January is the coolest, at 40°F and 23°F. June and July are the wettest at 4.8 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 3.0 inches; the year adds up to 49.5 inches over 82 days with at least a tenth of an inch. June to November, the hurricane season months, bring 53% of the year's precipitation (26.0 of 49.5 inches); the other six months are drier. September has brought the most of the 45 tropical systems that passed within 75 miles (18); a normal September there has highs of 78°F and 4.2 inches of precipitation. Highs reach 90°F on about 24 days a year, almost all from May to September. Lows fall below freezing on about 111 nights a year. Snowfall averages 29.0 inches a year, most of it in February. That 49.5 inches is more than at 33 of the 51 New Jersey stations used on this site (65%). South Bound Brook, 4 miles north, has its own station (Plainfield, NJ): 48.7 inches a year, 0.8 less than here, and a July average high of 88°F against 87°F.

Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 518 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Somerset: 299 thunderstorm wind reports, 103 flash floods, 70 floods, 24 lightning strikes and 22 heavy rain events. They killed 7 people and injured 15, and the NWS estimated $68.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 75 mph, on May 18, 2000. July has had the most flash floods, 39 of 103. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 253 have had fewer than Somerset.

Flood insurance policyholders in Somerset's ZIP code 08873 have filed 106 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $4.1 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Ida in 2021: 30 claims (28% of all) and $2.5 million, then Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 21. 81% 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, 216 have fewer than Somerset.