Strong winds causing downed trees, blocked roads, power outages in North Jersey

Strong wind gusts are causing power outages, road closures and downed trees all across New Jersey on Monday evening.

National Weather Service posted a wind advisory alert warning that some New Jersey counties, such as Morris and Sussex, could be experiencing strong and gusty winds throughout the evening.

Strong winds have developed this afternoon with peak gusts of 35 to 45 miles per hour, said National Weather Service. Tree damage and isolated power outages could come from these winds NWS warns.

Road closures from fallen trees

Many North Jersey towns are dealing with road closures due to trees that have fallen because of the extreme wind gusts. Franklin Lakes, Hawthorne, Belleville and Parsippany-Troy Hills have all reported some road closures due to fallen trees from wind gusts.

A downed tree on 9W northbound, north of Palisades Interstate Parkway in Alpine, caused the right lane to be closed as of 7:12 p.m. on Monday, the NJ DOT reported.

More: How to tell if a tree is at risk of falling – from an NJ tree expert

Thousands suffer power outages

The three major power companies were reporting outages in North Jersey Monday evening. The hardest hit counties were Morris and Essex with over 2,600 in each county without power just before 7 p.m. By 8:45 p.m., Morris County had over 3,100 in the dark.

Here is a look at the some of the towns being affected at 8:45 p.m.:

• Harding - 866 (JCP&L)
• Morristown - 326 (JCP&L)
• Riverdale - 585 (JCP&L)
• Pequannock - 574 (JCP&L)
• Hackensack – 545 (PSE&G)
• West Milford – 248 (Orange & Rockland)
• East Orange - 225 (PSE&G)
• Wayne - 169 (JCP&L)

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Strong winds causing downed trees, blocked roads, power outages in North Jersey