Flood watch issued for North Jersey as storms expected to dump 2+ inches on region

A flood watch was issued Saturday, Aug. 17, for Bergen, Passaic and other North Jersey counties as slow-moving storms are expected to bring as much as 2 inches of rainfall to the region through the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 20.

Heavy rain is expected to bring flash flooding starting at 2 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 18, and continuing through Sunday evening, especially in poor drainage areas, according to the National Weather Service.

Paramus and West Milford are forecasted to get slightly more than 2 inches of rain until 8 a.m. on Aug. 20, according to the National Weather Service. New York City and Newark are expected to receive just over 1.5 inches.

August has already been a very wet month for New Jersey, with some counties getting nearly double the average. For instance, Ramsey already has 6.7 inches — 2.4 inches above normal, according to the North Jersey Weather Observers.

"More precipitation is not something we need right now," said Bob Ziff, spokesman for the group.

River gauges for the Hackensack, Passaic and Raritan Rivers along with their many tributaries show mostly low levels as of Saturday afternoon. Forecasts do not call for any of them to rise above flood stage over the next few days.

Counties in the flood watch

• Bergen

• Passaic

• Essex

• Hudson

• Union

• Orange, New York

• Rockland, New York.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: North Jersey: Flood watch issue as storms to dump 2 inches