Heavy Rain, High Winds Headed To NJ: See Latest Forecast

NEW JERSEY - Remnants of Hurricane Nicole are slated to hit the Garden State on Friday into Saturday, with periods of heavy rain, locally damaging winds, power outages and even a brief, weak tornado in the cards, forecasters said.

The greatest threat for severe weather is Friday night, the National Weather Service said, though the storm system will persist overnight into Saturday morning.

The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for five New Jersey counties from 11 p.m. Friday night through 9 a.m. Saturday. Winds from 20 to 30 mph may gust up to 50 mph, with the strongest winds to take place on the immediate coast and south of the I-80 corridor, the agency said in a Friday morning briefing.

The affected counties are:

• Monmouth
• Ocean
• Atlantic
• Cape May
• Burlington

The high winds are slated to persist Friday evening into the overnight hours, with gusts capable of downing trees and blowing around unsecured objects, the agency said.

“Tree limbs could be brought down and scattered power outages may result,” National Weather Service forecasters said in the wind advisory. “Use extra caution while driving, especially if operating a large vehicle. Secure outdoor objects such as trash bins and lawn furniture.”

Heavy rain may also lead to flash flooding and poor drainage in urban areas, the National Weather Service said. The greatest risks for localized flooding will be along and northwest of the I-95 corridor where up to two inches of rainfall is expected, with locally higher amounts possible, the agency said.

11 New Jersey counties are also under a hazardous weather outlook from Friday through next Thursday, the agency added, with a potential for a freeze throughout the week. The affected counties are:

• Middlesex
• Mercer
• Burlington
• Camden
• Gloucester
• Salem
• Cumberland
• Monmouth
• Ocean
• Atlantic
• Cape May

AccuWeather reports that, although Nicole has shifted to directly impact inland areas such as Pittsburgh and Buffalo rather than coastal cities, an increase in warmth and humidity along the coast will bring an increased risk of severe storms. It’s also not out of the question that isolated tornadoes or waterspouts could occur from the eastern Carolinas to southern New Jersey, the weather service said.

Then-Hurricane Nicole made landfall in the U.S. on Thursday in Florida as a Category 1 storm, leaving at least four dead and around 330,000 residences in the dark.

All four deaths have been attributed to the storm in Orange County, where the sheriff's office tweeted that two people were electrocuted by a downed power line. Officials urged people to never touch a downed wire.

Also in that county, two people were killed in a car crash on Florida's Turnpike in probable storm-related deaths, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings told ABC News.

A 68-year-old man whose docked yacht was being pounded by waves suffered a medical emergency, local police said. The man died at a hospital Thursday, CBS News reported.

"The storm is very large with winds stretching hundreds of miles from the center and much of the state is experiencing tropical storm-force winds," Gov. Ron DeSantis said during an 11 a.m. new conference. "But we've also seen heavy rains that resulted from 3 to 5 feet of storm surge in some areas. Impacts have been basically what was expected. You do have downed trees, you have some power outages, you have some road washouts, and with the combined winds and storm surge, we've seen beach erosion."

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

Friday: Rain, mainly after 10 a.m. High near 69. Southeast wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Friday Night: Rain likely, with thunderstorms also possible after 2 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 63. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Saturday: Mostly cloudy, then gradually becoming sunny, with a high near 71. Breezy, with a west wind 10 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 35 mph.

Saturday Night: A chance of showers, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. Northwest wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 52. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph.

Sunday Night: Clear, with a low around 31.

With reporting by D’Ann Lawrence White.