Strong to high winds occurred across New Jersey from the middle of the evening on the 30th into the early afternoon of the 31st in New Jersey.  Peak wind gusts reached between 45 mph and 65 mph and downed weak trees, tree limbs and power lines and caused power outages. Approximately 20,000 homes and businesses lost power.  The wind damage was exacerbated by isolated severe thunderstorms that moved through the central part of the state during the early morning on the 31st. All of the high winds and most of the highest wind gusts occurred in the south to southwest flow preceding a cold frontal passage during the early morning on the 31st. However, strong wind gusts near 50 mph continued in the westerly flow following the cold frontal passage during the morning and into early afternoon on the 31st.  The cold front moved through the state between 5 a.m. EST and 7 a.m. EST on the 31st.
PSE&G reported about 11,000 outages across New Jersey, 3,400 of them in Burlington County. Power was expected to be fully restored later in the day on the 31st.   In Burlington County, parts of northbound U.S. Route 206 northbound were closed because of fallen trees. Sections of U.S. Route 30 in Camden County were also closed because of downed trees. Atlantic City Electric reported about 3,600 of its customers were without power, more than 2,500 were in Atlantic County. In central New Jersey,  the most concentrated reported wind damage and power outages occurred in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean Counties. In Monmouth County, about 1,700 JCP&L customers lost power. Outages were reported in Freehold, Upper Freehold and Millstone. In Middletown, downed power lines led to a blown transformer. In Ocean County, power outages were reported in Lakewood, Berkeley, Manchester, Plumsted and Lacey Townships. Uprooted trees were reported in Toms River. In Middlesex County,  the high winds knocked down wires in multiple locations throughout the county. One downed tree damaged a vehicle in South Brunswick. Trees and wires were also reported knocked down in Cape May County.  In Morris County, loose shingles were torn from a house in Chester.
Peak wind gusts included 63 mph in Sandy Hook (Monmouth County), 61 mph in Gloucester City (Camden County), 59 mph in Ancora (Camden County) and Tuckerton (Ocean County), 57 mph in Woodbine (Cape May County) and Berkeley Township (Ocean County), 56 mph in Florence (Burlington County), Seaside Park (Ocean County) and Woodbridge (Middlesex County), 55 mph in Oswego Lake (Burlington County), 54 mph at the Atlantic City International Airport, 53 mph in Chatsworth (Burlington County), Cream Ridge (Monmouth County), Trenton (Mercer County), Upper Deerfield Township (Cumberland County) and Cape May (Cape May County), 52 mph in Lumberton (Burlington County), Monmouth Beach (Monmouth County) and Dennis Township (Cape May County), 51 mph in Oceanville (Atlantic County) and Lavallette (Ocean County), 50 mph in Pittstown (Hunterdon County), 49 mph in Stewartsville (Warren County) and 47 mph in Washington Township (Gloucester County), Hackettstown (Warren County) and Millville (Cumberland County).

The strong to high winds were caused by a land bombing low pressure system that intensified rapidly as it moved through the Great Lakes on January 30th and into Quebec Province on January 31st.  The central pressure of the low pressure system over Illinois deepened from 992 millibars at 7 a.m. EST on the 30th to 968 millibars at 7 a.m. EST on the 31st when it was in Quebec Province.  The low pressure system continued to deepen and the following morning, the pressure was 944 millibars as it was crossing the Labrador Sea (The lowest analyzed pressure with this system was 940 millibars.).  The rapid deepening of the surface low intensified the southerly flow preceding its cold front and then the pressure gradient (difference) between the low pressure system and a high pressure system entering the Northern Plains continued strong winds into the afternoon of the 31st.  The low pressure system moved far enough away from New Jersey for the strong winds to cease later that day.

Strong Wind in EASTERN ATLANTIC, NEW JERSEY
From 30-JAN-13 21:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 44.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: WLON

Strong Wind in WESTERN ATLANTIC, NEW JERSEY
From 30-JAN-13 21:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 47.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Strong Wind in SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY
From 30-JAN-13 22:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 48.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in CUMBERLAND, NEW JERSEY
From 30-JAN-13 22:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 46.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in SALEM, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in GLOUCESTER, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 41.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 49.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Strong Wind in MERCER, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 46.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: ASOS

Strong Wind in SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in SUSSEX, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 40.00 EG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in HUNTERDON, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 43.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in WARREN, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 43.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

Strong Wind in MORRIS, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 00:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 48.00 EG
Property damage: 10.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Thunderstorm Wind in MERCER, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 03:37:00 to 31-JAN-13 03:41:00 (EST-5)
Location: LEWISVILLE
Magnitude: 50.00 MG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: 911 Call Center

A severe thunderstorm knocked down trees and wires in Hamilton Township and in Lawrence Township including along Princeton Pike. A mesonet site in Hamilton Township measured a wind gust of 58 mph.

Strong Wind in EASTERN CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY
From 30-JAN-13 21:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 46.00 MG
Property damage: 4.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: WLON

High Wind in WESTERN MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 02:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 05:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 52.00 EG
Property damage: 15.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

High Wind in CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 02:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 05:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 53.00 MG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Mesonet

High Wind in EASTERN MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 02:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 05:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 55.00 MG
Property damage: 10.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: WLON

High Wind in WESTERN OCEAN, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 02:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 05:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 51.00 MG
Property damage: 10.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: WLON

High Wind in EASTERN OCEAN, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 02:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 05:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 50.00 EG
Property damage: 10.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

High Wind in MIDDLESEX, NEW JERSEY
From 31-JAN-13 02:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 05:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 50.00 EG
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Strong Wind in WESTERN CAPE MAY, NEW JERSEY
From 30-JAN-13 21:00:00 to 31-JAN-13 15:00:00 (EST-5)
Magnitude: 49.00 MG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: WLON