Cranford Under Flash Flood Watch Through Early Sunday Morning – Patch.com

CRANFORD, NJ — Just as parts of Union County finished cleaning up after downpours from Tropical Storm Henri last weekend, Cranford and the rest of Union County is under a flash flood watch from 2 p.m. Friday through the wee hours of Sunday (2 a.m.)

In Cranford, “Some of the storms could produce heavy rain” Friday evening, the National Weather Service said in its Cranford forecast.

Cranford’s other watches and warnings are listed here.

“With recent heavy rainfall, it will not take much additional rain to result in flash flooding,” the NWS said in issuing a flood watch for Union County, Bergen, Essex, Passaic, and Bergen counties.

While some may consider flash floods just an inconvenience, these floods have proved fatal to drivers (sometimes trapping parents and children in their cars as water rises) and to children playing near small streams. Do not try to drive through flooded intersections.

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The forecast for Union County calls for:

• Friday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 10p.m. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 70. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
• Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 78. East wind 9 to 11 mph.
• Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. East wind 7 to 9 mph.
• Sunday: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 81. East wind around 7 mph.

Storms This Summer

The next several tropical storms in the Atlantic will be named: Julian, Kate, Larry, Mindy, Nicholas, Odette, Peter, Rose, Sam, Teresa, Victor, and Wanda.

Severe storms are becoming more frequent. In fact, the current Hurricane Elsa in July 2021 was the earliest E-named storm in modern weather history.

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