Rumson Road just west of Bellevue Avenue in Rumson offered a water hazard for motorists late Tuesday afternoon. (Click to enlarge)
The good news: the torrential rains of the past three days are just about over.
The better news: warm and sunny days are forecast to bloom with April, following one sopping wet month.
How wet, in relative terms? From the Asbury Park Press:
David Robinson, state climatologist and professor of geography at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, said the estimated 9 inches of rainfall so far this month easily shatters the 7.8-inch record set in 1912.
“I have never seen such storms, Robinson said. “The big story this spring is the relentless, slow moving, moisture-rich powerful storms. Twenty years from now, we’ll be talking about the storms of 2010.”
Robinson tells the Star-Ledger that the past 12 months have been the wettest such interval dating back to 1895.
From April 1, 2009, until today, 65 inches of precipitation fell on New Jersyans, washing away the old record of 61.4 inches, which was set from May 1938 through April 1939, he said. No records are available before 1895.
Here’s the forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: A chance of rain or drizzle before 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 57. North wind between 15 and 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 42. North wind between 5 and 8 mph.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 69. North wind around 6 mph becoming south.
Thursday Night: Clear, with a low around 45. South wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm.
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 68. Calm wind becoming south between 5 and 8 mph.
Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 49.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 71.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 50.
Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 67.
Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 48.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 45.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 61.