Over 9K NJ Homes Without Power Christmas Eve Morning: Officials

NEW JERSEY - Thousands of New Jersey residents are without power Christmas Eve morning after a fierce Friday storm knocked out power, flooded roadways, ushered in brief snow showers and brought temperatures down into the single digits around the Garden State.

As of 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, over 9,000 JCP&L customers in the state were left without electricity; 354 other PSE&G customers were also left in the dark, according to the companies’ outage trackers.

Over 8,000 JCP&L customers were affected in Somerset, Hunterdon, Warren and Morris counties combined, the company said. Most of the outages stemmed from Branchburg (1,145 outages) and Hillsborough (746 outages), where residents have been in the dark since Friday afternoon.

Related: Floods, Wind Damage, Flash Freeze Plague NJ's Christmas Travel

Other JCP&L outages were reported in Monmouth (320 outages), Sussex (261 outages), Middlesex (150 outages) and Mercer (109 outages) counties.

Most of the affected PSE&G customers were in Burlington County’s Willingboro Township where 119 customers were left without power. Other outages were reported in Mansfield, Cherry Hill, Newark, West Windsor, Cranford and Hackensack, to name a few.

Several residents across the state also reported flooding, namely in Atlantic City, Cape May, Edgewater, Perth Amboy, Point Pleasant, Toms River, Berkeley and Hoboken. Read more: Train Station Floods In Hoboken, Causing Delays (PHOTOS)

In Monmouth County, Sandy Hook saw waters flood to 8.89 feet, the highest recorded number since the landfall of Superstorm Sandy, the National Weather Service said. Belmar saw waters reach up to 7.84 feet, Perth Amboy saw up to 9.39 feet and Keansburg saw up to 9.18 feet, according to preliminary reports.

Overnight temperatures in the single-digits are expected to increase Saturday into the teens, though wind chill values could be as low as -5 degrees, the National Weather Service said. Gusts as high as 30 to 40 mph are also possible.

Christmas Day temperatures will hover just below freezing around the 29-degree mark, the agency added.

Here’s the latest weather forecast, per the National Weather Service:

Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 19. Wind chill values as low as -5. West wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 12. West wind around 10 mph.

Christmas Day: Sunny, with a high near 29. West wind around 15 mph.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 13. West wind around 10 mph.

Monday: Sunny, with a high near 31. West wind 5 to 10 mph.

Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 22.