This past week, severe weather impacted New Jersey and the wider northeast region. The National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly has so far confirmed six tornadoes from the event and is investigating other areas within their forecast responsibility for potential tornado and straight-line damage.
Notably, the weather office confirmed that two EF2 rated tornadoes impacted the neighboring communities of Howell and Jackson, with significant damage reported in both.
Given the recent uptick in severe weather in New Jersey over the past few years, we thought it would be interesting to share our thoughts on these new weather concerns.
Given New Jersey’s nature as a coastal state, many of the editors recalled memories from past tropical cyclones, in particular 2011’s Hurricane Irene.
Our assistant Features editor elaborates, “I remember Hurricane Irene just because it hit my area pretty hard. I live near a town that unfortunately floods easily and has the potential to spill over into my hometown.”
Our Sports editor also shared his story, “I remember Hurricane Irene from the year before – I was stuck at my grandparents house and I remember how some parts of the state had power and cell service and others didn’t. We were in between both of these areas.” Needless to say, that sounds fairly awkward.
Our Entertainment editor also has their own hurricane story, albeit with its setting in a faraway land. “I have a distinct memory of Tropical Storm Debby in 2012,” she begins, “I was in Disney during the time, and it was one of the rare moments before COVID that the parks shut down completely. I remember coming back to our yard being destroyed and power still out.”
Given the pace of last week’s storm, we also asked the editors if they felt properly warned of severe weather, and whether the way it is delivered to people causes anxiety. Our Lifestyles editor starts it simple, saying that she feels “properly warned of severe weather with the notifications on my phone and notices in the weather app.”
Our Features editor chimed in with agreement, saying “I check the weather multiple times a day and even have a widget on my lock screen. I think it’s important to be aware of what’s coming, especially with an ever changing schedule and unpredictable weather patterns.”
A handful of the editors expressed that the emergency alert system, usually shortened to EAS, causes more anxiety than what is warranted. One editor said that, “when I was younger, I was deathly afraid of the EAS sound. To this day, it still really disturbs me.”
This year New Jersey saw a distinct lack of snow. In fact, April’s weather event produced more tornadoes than most of the state saw inches of snow.
Given the unusual nature of this fact, we also asked how the editors felt about New Jersey’s sudden lack of snow.
Our Managing Editor stated, “I was a little upset that we didn’t get any good snow days this year. I mean come on, not even one? As someone who’s into the climate change discussion, the warm winter this year definitely raised some alarm for me.”
Our assistant Features editor agreed and disagreed, saying, “I do and don’t miss the snow. I do miss it because who doesn’t love a snow day, but also trying to walk to class and worrying about ice and snow is something I don’t miss.” That statement is surely relatable.
Our Lifestyles editor was more dismayed than others, expressing, “I love snow, and it usually snows around my birthday every year in January, so I definitely missed seeing it this year. Although, it was nice to not have to shovel out my car this year.”
With the severe weather season upon us, everyone here at the Outlook urges our readers to stay weather aware, alongside trying your best to avoid New Jersey’s newfound tornado threat.
