Surfing in Sea Bright on Sept. 30, 2015 (Credit: Mark R. Sullivan/Staff Photographer)
The weather was warm, warm, warm.
Indeed, last month was the third warmest September on record in New Jersey, according to the state climatologist.
The warm season (May through September) was also the third warmest since 1895, according to a monthly report by David A. Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist who is based at Rutgers University.
Some beaches closed after wind and tides strip Shore
Here are some other climate and weather facts in the report.
1. September averaged 71.4 degrees, or 4.5 degrees above the 1981 to 2010 norm. The two warmest Septembers were in 1961 and 2005.
2. Five of the 10 warmest Septembers of record have been since 2002.
Nor'easter season still expected to be busy
3. May through September averaged 71.4 degrees, ranking behind 2010 (72.4) and 2011 (71.8) - the two warmest warm seasons on record
4. Eight of the 10 warmest warm seasons took place in last 18 years. Four unfolded in the last six years.
5. September averaged 3.44 inches of precipitation, with almost half of it falling on the 30th. It was the 63rd driest September on record but could have been much drier without the Sept. 30 rainfall.
One dead after flooding, wind batter the Shore
6. The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a drought watch on Sept. 23 in the northeast, central and north coastal areas following dry conditions since mid- to late summer. These were the driest areas this summer, leading to low stream flow, ground water and reservoir levels. During two weeks without rain, surface moisture became exceedingly low and a 1,000-acre fire burned in the Pinelands on Sept. 7 and 8.
7. The temperature reaches 98 degrees - the hottest temperature this year - on July 19 in Newark, Aug. 17 in New Brunswick and Sept. 8 in Hawthorne.
Ortley Beach crews replenish dunes after nor'easter
8. Temperatures hit at least 90 on 36 days in New Brunswick this year, tying eighth place for the most such days since 1896. The mercury hit at least 90 on nine days in Sea Girt and two days in Harvey Cedars.
9. Temperatures reached at least 80 degrees on 119 days in New Brunswick, besting the previous record of 115 days in 2010.
10. It was at least 82 degrees on 66 days in a row in New Brunswick, far more than the previous record of 42 days in 2010.
