Did the fast-moving thunderstorm last night shake things up where you were? The lights went out for some, including parts of Glen Ridge (yes again), portions of Cedar Grove and pockets of neighborhoods around other Baristaville towns, and across New Jersey.
A severe thunderstorm warning was issued around 8:00, and at my house, everything flickered off for a few seconds but came right back on, before all went dark and quiet at around 9:05. My son remarked at how quickly and without fuss we segued from life-as-normal (husband and I watching TV, both sons on computers), to life-like-last-fall-during-Hurricane Sandy: flashlights and candles close at hand, computers quickly unplugged, cell phones set to conserve mode and whatever we remembered had been running, like the dishwasher, switched off. And no one dared open the refrigerator until we regained power at 10:52.
And since PSE&G promised an 11:00 repair, we counted ourselves lucky.
@Robbiev34 Crews have been notified of the issue in #cedargrove and are responding –> current ETR is 11pm
— PSE&G (@PSEGdelivers) July 8, 2013
Inconvenience aside, some found the storm inspiring. Just look at the beautiful formation photographer Michael Vezza caught in the featured image, above.
On Twitter, we also saw this
As the storm went just north of Montclair @nynjpaweather pic.twitter.com/huqrNw0LNt
— Doug Mehan (@DougMehan) July 8, 2013
And in Passaic County
lightning strike in Passaic county NJ just after sunset on July 7th. @Bergen_NJ @BergenCtyNews @accuweather #weather pic.twitter.com/F3nSZI8If0
— paul bassett (@PaulBassett) July 8, 2013
There were numerous reports of felled trees in Montclair, Livingston and elsewhere in our area. How about where you live? Any trees down, power outages, other damage?
strong gusts of wind- not much rain – some lightening- lights flickered- we got off easy in our part of Bloomfield
Michael Vezza’s photo is just incredible. The back-lighting is very dramatic. We got some wind in Watsessing Heights. A very large tree fell directly on a house on Ridgewood Ave. in GR. I hope everyone inside is ok and the damage was limited to exterior features and not structural.
We’ve been losing those 100+ year-old trees along Ridgewood Ave one by one (and sometimes more). Hate to see them topple over!
Many of the older street trees require careful pruning to allow good air flow through the canopy, etc. Unfortunately, many don’t receive that care, while others are butchered by Public Service in an effort to protect line integrity.