Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as the third (tied) most intense tropical system in the Atlantic basin by pressure and the sixth strongest by wind speed. When all is said and done, the name Melissa will be retired from tropical storm names.

Now on to our forecast.

The weather will continue to deteriorate. Gusty northeast winds will pile clouds on New Jersey. Ocean water will once again get pushed onshore and into back bays. Minor coastal flooding can be expected during Wednesday and Thursday's high tides.

A larger storm moving out of the Plains will drop in and drag rain from the Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic. All of this moisture will consolidate over New Jersey on Thursday.

It will be a wretched weather day with wind-driven rains. Because the wind will be taking more leaves off of trees and snapping branches, all that fall debris will clog storm drains and sewers. This will then allow the rainwater to be pushed further into the streets.

Isolated thunderstorms could enhance the amount of rain that falls. In general, 1-2 inches of water is likely. It will be very beneficial to our state. For the month of October, we have only collected 1.82 inches of rain. (Normal to-date would be 3.33 inches) Reservoirs will continue to get drier and drier until we see a pattern change, and that doesn't look likely.