New Jersey: In unseasonably cold August, unusual hail wipes out crops

Dave Rizzotte, co-owner of the Glossy Fruit Farms near Route 206 in Hammonton, surveyed the storm damage at his 250-acre farm early Monday.

"It's the worst I've seen," Rizzotte said. "It's extensive. Right now, we're seeing what we can salvage."

Rizzotte said hail struck the Hammonton area around noon Sunday, damaging tomatoes, sweet potatoes and blueberry crops at his farm.

In Gloucester County, Sunday's storms were hit and miss for farmers, said Jeff Beach, New Jersey Department of Agriculture spokesman.

"It's not like everyone got wiped out, but there are certainly ones that seem like they got hit pretty bad," he said.
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Anthony Gigi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, said Sunday's hailstorms were unusual for this time of year.

"Above the surface, the air was unseasonably cold for August, which made it easy for thunderstorms to appear," Gigi said.

He said such storms in August are rare occurrences that were made worse Sunday, when multiple storms linked up to produce large, prolonged hailstorms in some parts. The likelihood of hailstorms in August is only about 5 percent, he said.

"You usually see that in April or early May," he said.