Rain Total In Cranford Higher Than Much Of Union County: Spotters

CRANFORD, NJ — Cranford received 9 inches of rain during Tropical Depression Ida, a spotter told the National Weather Service Thursday morning as various area spotters reported in at different times that day. The rainfall totals for Union County, according to spotters, were:

CRANFORD 9.05 IN
(NEWARK AIRPORT 8.44 IN)
CLARK 7.83 IN
CRANFORD TWP 7.80 IN
LINDEN 7.62 IN
WESTFIELD 7.52 IN
NEW PROVIDENCE 7.43 IN
CLARK 7.41 IN
SPRINGFIELD 6.75 IN
LINDEN 6.72 IN
MOUNTAINSIDE 6.43 IN
LINDEN AIRPORT 5.67 IN

Cranford and nearby areas were still under a flash flood warning Friday — and Union County continued to clean up — after Ida dropped heavy rain on the area, causing flash floods.

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"At 551 a.m. EDT, Flooding is ongoing in portions of the warned area," said an advisory for Union County for Friday. "Several rivers and streams remain in minor to moderate flood. Between 5 and 8.5 inches of rain fell across the region from the remnants of Ida."

See the watches and warnings for the area here.

While some may consider flash floods just an inconvenience, these floods have proved fatal to drivers (sometimes trapping parents and children in their cars as water rises) and to children playing near small streams.

In nearby Westfield, three people were rescued from a school roof and more than 30 cars were submerged.

Future Hurricanes

Severe storms are becoming more frequent. In fact, Hurricane Elsa in July 2021 was the earliest E-named storm in modern weather history.

Forecasters are now keeping an eye on Hurricane Larry in the Atlantic (track it here). Currently, rain is not forecast for Union County until next Wednesday.

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