Tornado Watch In Bloomfield: Floods Possible, Weather Forecasters Warn

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — UPDATE: The tornado watch in Essex County has been extended until 10 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9. Our original article follows below.

Bloomfield is seeing a double whammy of weather warnings for Friday, with a “tornado watch” and “flood advisory” in effect, forecasters say.

The National Weather Service (NWS) is predicting showers and thunderstorms with strong winds in Bloomfield and the surrounding area. There is a tornado watch in effect until 2 p.m., and a flood advisory in effect until 8:45 a.m.

“There is the potential for isolated to scattered instances of flash flooding late this afternoon into tonight, along with urban and poor drainage flooding,” a hazardous weather outlook for the area reads.

“In addition, there is a marginal to slight risk for severe weather for the area, with the primary threat being damaging winds with a localized tornado threat,” the NWS adds.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

LOCAL WEATHER FORECAST

Here is the weather forecast for the rest of the weekend, as per the NWS:

Friday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. High near 82. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 40 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Friday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before 2am, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2am. Low around 71. Breezy, with a south wind 17 to 22 mph decreasing to 9 to 14 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 85. West wind 8 to 10 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 65. West wind 5 to 7 mph.

Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 82. Light west wind increasing to 5 to 10 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph.

Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 64.

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