The combination of heavy rain between 6 a.m. and Noon EST on the 11th and runoff from the melting snow produced widespread poor drainage and river flooding in Somerset County. Storm totals averaged around an inch and a half with the highest amounts toward Morris and Hunterdon Counties. Flooding along the North Branch of the Raritan River affected County Route 614. A motorist was rescued near the Millstone River after he drove around barricades. A 80-year-old man was rescued from his car by two Hillsborough Township police as his vehicle was being pulled into the South Branch of the Raritan River. Both the Griggstown and Blackwells Mills Causeways were closed. Roads were also closed in Raritan and Somerville Boroughs. The Millstone River in Griggstown reached its 10 foot flood stage at 655 a.m. EST on the 11th, crested at 18.2 feet at 7 p.m. EST on the 11th and was back within bankfull at 1042 p.m. EST on the 13th. Farther downstream at Blackwells Mills, it reached its 9 foot flood stage at 431 p.m. EST on the 11th, crested at 11.87 feet at 153 a.m. EST on the 12th and was back within bankfull at 945 p.m. EST on the 12th. Farther downstream at Weston, the river reached its 12.4 foot flood stage at 847 p.m. EST on the 11th, crested at 13.48 feet at 3 a.m. EST on the 12th and was back within bankfull at 720 a.m. EST on the 12th. Along the North Branch of Raritan River, at North Ranch the river was above its 12.3 foot flood stage from 131 p.m. through 7 p.m. EST on the 11th. It crested at 12.74 feet at 401 p.m. EST. Farther downstream at Raritan, it was above its 10 foot flood stage from 322 p.m. through 727 p.m. EST on the 11th. It crested at 10.16 feet at 5 p.m. EST. Farther downstream at South Branch, the river was above its 6.9 foot flood stage from 924 a.m. EST on the 11th through 559 a.m. EST on the 12th. It crested at 9.9 feet at Midnight EST on the 12th. Along the main stem of the Raritan River at Manville the river reached its 14 foot flood stage at 439 p.m. EST, crested at 16.6 feet at 1130 p.m. EST on the 11th and was back within bankfull at 706 a.m. EST on the 12th. Farther downstream at Bound Brook, the river reached its 28 foot flood stage at 828 p.m. EST on the 11th, crested at 30.02 feet at 230 a.m. on the 12th and was back within bankfull at 945 a.m. EST on the 12th.Storm totals included 1.84 inches in Somerville, 1.80 inches in Bound Brook, 1.56 inches in Belle Mead and 1.40 inches in North Plainfield. The heavy rain was caused by an intense low pressure system at both the surface and aloft that developed over the Southern Plains on the 9th. The primary low pressure system moved toward the Great Lakes on the morning of the 10th while a secondary low pressure system was forming near the upper air support over the Tennessee Valley. This secondary low pressure system continued to intensify and was located over North Carolina the evening of the 10th, near Philadelphia around 7 a.m. EST on the 11th and in western Connecticut early in the evening on the 11th. This secondary low pressure system helped wring the moisture in the atmosphere from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean onto the region.

Flood in SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY
From 11-DEC-03 06:55:00 to 13-DEC-03 22:42:00 (EST)
Reported by: AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC