Rutgers Climatologist Can Discuss Today’s Storm and Near-Record Wet Weather in N.J. This Year

New Brunswick, N.J. (Dec. 21, 2018) – Rutgers Professor David A. Robinson, the New Jersey State Climatologist, can provide insight on the latest storm to hit New Jersey and this year’s near-record wet weather.

“We will have to see how this storm produces, as we are approaching the 2011 record for calendar year precipitation, when Tropical Storm Irene unloaded on the Garden State,” said Robinson, a distinguished professor in the Department of Geography at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. “We are solidly in second place, but need a few inches statewide to get close, which just may occur. Unless we really get clobbered with this event and then perhaps with some more precipitation before year’s end, it may be too close to call until late month preliminary statewide estimates start coming in.”

“At the moment, December precipitation is not close to the 8.77-inch statewide average for November, which set a record for the month in measurements that began in 1895,” said Robinson, who runs the Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist. “Generally, 1 to 2 inches of rain has fallen since yesterday, and we’re not done yet. Models are suggesting there may be one more shot – late next week – at substantial precipitation before the year is out.”

Robinson oversees the Rutgers NJ Weather Network and helps coordinate the New Jersey Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. He is available to comment at [email protected] or 848-445-4741.

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