Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit South River, NJ

The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is New Brunswick 3 SE, NJ, 3 miles northwest of South River 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 (20); 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%). Old Bridge, 4 miles southeast, has its own station (Freehold-Marlboro, NJ): 48.5 inches a year, 1.0 less than here, and the same July average high, 87°F.

Water temperature at the NOAA tide station Sandy Hook, NJ, 20 miles east, averaged 77°F in July and 38°F in January over 2021–2025. No month averaged 80°F. Sea level at the Bergen Point tide gauge, 18 miles from South River, 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 392 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of South River: 222 thunderstorm wind reports, 96 flash floods, 25 heavy rain events, 25 lightning strikes and 24 floods. They killed 1 person and injured 17, and the NWS estimated $22.7 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on September 16, 2010. July has had the most flash floods, 36 of 96. Of the 455 New Jersey cities on this site with a flash flood on record, 245 have had fewer than South River.

Flood insurance policyholders in South River's ZIP code 08882 have filed 433 claims with the National Flood Insurance Program since 1979, and were paid $14.2 million for buildings and contents, in the dollars of each year. The most came from Hurricane Sandy in 2012: 148 claims (34% of all) and $11.1 million, then March 2010 Nor'easter in 2010 with 73 and Hurricane Irene in 2011 with 65. 86% 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, 322 have fewer than South River.