Hurricane Irene in Smoke Rise: Photos

Hurricane Irene left us with 11" of rain from late Saturday the 27th to early Sunday the 28th. That's my unofficial tally for the amount of rainfall in Smoke Rise as per my 2 ft deep, 5 ft across Tree Tub. 11 Inches of Rain!!! Wow.

The three of us decided to document the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in Smoke Rise this afternoon. Several of our roads were shut down - including the East Gate Exit Road and Forge Road, so we explored on foot.

Stream below Orchard Road spillway seen from Eastgate Rd

These views had us speechless. Walking along East Gate Exit Road the water spilled over its bank and headed crosscountry to meet up with the stream again several hundred yards down from the main channel. More water was moving outside of the watercourse than in it.

Same as above including view of spillway/waterfall

Forge Pond Road disconnect, approx 25' across

According to bystanders the stream overflowed Forge Road early Sunday morning and undercut the roadbed, tunneling through outside the reinforced concrete pipe.

Driveway off of East Gate Rd

Driveway off of Brookvale Rd

Driveway across the street from house above

To put several of the photos above into perspective, below is a view of the East Gate exit road from above the waterfall bridge located on Orchard Road. You can just see East Gate road in the distance. All of this was under water.

East Gate Exit Road in the distance
from the top of the Orchard Rd Bridge,
at an earlier and calmer  time

Christine took our photos and created a presentation video of the photos we took walking around Smoke Rise. It is 2:37 minutes long with no sound, but gives you a good idea of what we encountered.

[Subscribers, click on this link to view the Hurricane Irene Aftermath in Smoke Rise, Kinnelon NJ on YouTube.]
 

 How did you weather Hurricane Irene? Do send us your photos with description and location and we'll upload them for all to see!

Added 8/29/11: yesterday's report of road closings and river statuses in North Jersey.
Kinnelon Road is shut down indefinitely at Rickabear #385 because the road collapsed.
Here's a photo of the River going over its banks in Butler.

Added 8/30/11: photo of I287 road collapse just south of exit 44. Hat tip to Steve Woodruff. And, from Patch, photos of the bridge collapse on Kinnelon Road by Rickabear.

& Ted 

Local Kinnelon Weather Radar -- What Is It Really Going to Do in the Next 30 Minutes?

Weather Underground Smallest Scale

North Jersey Weather Tells You What It Is Going to Do in the Next 30 Minutes in Kinnelon, NJ!

Wouldn't it be nice to have your own personal local weather radar that showed you when the storms, rain, snow, and clouds were going to be over your house, your town, and the immediate area you are going to be driving in, walking, playing baseball, or taking a hike? The answer is: Yes!

If you've ever looked at so-called local weather radar maps, you know they are not that local, and it's hard to distinguish the rain or snow from the clear spots and tell what is coming our way right here in Kinnelon in the very near future. Oh, you can tell from Accuweather or Weather.com from their radar or satellite maps what will happen in the NY/NJ/CT tri-state area, but that's about all.

With Weather Underground you can select an area of the radar map and hold-left-click-drag a box which will then resolve to a smaller area, but still a fairly large one at highest resolution. See the map above.

But I have discovered a small site based in Wood Ridge, NJ that micro-interpolates weather radar data and shows a Very Local radar map of our area, local enough to see what's happening right on top of us, and what's going to happen over the next hour or two. Very Cool.

It's called North Jersey Weather, and includes a lot of info beside the radar map, but I love that map. Sadly, the map is not always running -- it seems that it gets shut down late at night, and when there is no interesting weather to map -- but when there is a rain or snow maker coming through it can tell you what to expect in a much more personal way than the maps of the big services. And really, when do you actually need or want a Weather Radar Map? When there IS weather, right?

Just click on the "Current Local Doppler Radar" map in the upper right hand corner of the page, or click on the Radar selection at the left, and the local map will display if it's running.

Next time you want to know what's up for the next couple of hours, check it out!

Add it to your browser favorites, if you like. We've added it to this blog's local resources.

~Ted


Photo Credit: Live Screen Capture of Weather Underground at Highest Magnification Possible