Severe thunderstorms cause damage across New York, New Jersey amid July 4th festivities
More stormy weather is expected Sunday after severe thunderstorms swept through New York and New Jersey on Saturday night, causing damage amid Fourth of July festivities.
A flood watch is in effect through Monday night across the Tri-State Area.
Power outages across region
More than 140,000 customers throughout New York and New Jersey were without power Sunday morning, according to the local utilities. An estimated 110,000 remained in the dark as of 2:15 p.m.
New York's Dutchess and Suffolk counties and New Jersey's Bergen County were particularly hard hit. The counties suffered lots of damage from downed trees and powerlines.
"Last night's storms brought down trees and knocked out power across parts of the Hudson Valley and Long Island. We're tracking an estimated 82,000 outages statewide and working with utility companies to restore power as quickly and safely as possible," Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote in a post on X.
Dutchess County officials said they do not expect power to be fully restored for days. They said the storm in their area impacted Poughkeepsie, East Fishkill, LaGrange, Beekman, Union Vale and Pawling the most.
In New York City, powerful winds caused a tree to crash into a subway train near the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium station in the Bronx. Passengers were evacuated and service on the 4 line was briefly suspended. The MTA said it impacted the train operator's cab, but no one was hurt.
In Baiting Hollow, New York, the wind gusted as high as 87 mph — almost equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane.
The Ridgewood, New Jersey, fireworks display was canceled.
Downed tree sparks house fire in N.J.
In River Edge, Bergen County, a home went up in flames after a tree fell onto it. It happened at Wales and Fifth avenues around 8 p.m.
Cellphone video shows the fire ravaging the home. The fire department quickly responded and spent an hour trying to get it under control.
Electrical wires were downed all around the block. Neighbors in the area lost power.
"There were trees down everywhere. The fire department did a great job controlling it," one neighbor said. "The power went in and out ... and now we're just hoping for it to come back and hopefully everyone's safe and sound."
The fire chief said one member of service was treated for minor injuries, but all residents were able to escape the home safely.
More storms expected Sunday, Monday
First Alert Weather Days have been issued for Sunday and Monday due to the ongoing threat of severe storms and flooding rains.
The first half of Sunday looks rather quiet, with a mix of sun and clouds. Comparatively speaking, highs on Sunday will feel much cooler, only reaching the mid to upper 80s. The high humidity levels will remain in place though.
Another round of strong to severe storms is expected for late Sunday afternoon and evening. Areas south and west of the city have the highest chance of seeing a severe storm, but they could form anywhere. The main threat with these storms would be torrential downpours that could lead to flash flooding.
Unlike the storms of the last few days that waned overnight, once the rain and storms get going on Sunday evening, they'll continue through Sunday night and Monday. Because of this, final rainfall totals could range between 3-4 inches, with higher totals in some locations by Monday night.
First heat wave of 2026 reached
Friday marked the official heat wave after three days of temperatures above 90 degrees.
The mercury hit a sweltering 98 degrees in Central Park Friday. Despite being so hot, no new records were tied or set across the Tri-State Area.
The high heat did, however, provide the fuel for a prolific line of severe thunderstorms that moved through the area Friday evening. The storms produced wind gusts as high as 70 mph in places like Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
With gusts that strong, it's no surprise that numerous trees and power lines were taken down regionwide.
Officials from the New York City Parks Department said they received reports of hundreds of damaged or fallen trees.
More than 200,000 JCP&L customers were left in the dark after the storms knocked out power. About 150,000 remained without power as of Saturday morning, according to the utility company.
Officials in Scotch Plains and Linden, New Jersey, also said there was significant damage throughout the two cities.