newjerseynewsroom.com

BY TOM HESTER SR.

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Two hundred miles off Sandy Hook, Hurricane Earl, a shadow of its former scary self, is slipping past New Jersey Friday causing nothing but higher than usual waves, gusty winds and rain.

While Atlantic, Cape May, Ocean, Monmouth counties and the eastern part of Burlington County remain under a tropical storm warning, New Jersey was not even mentioned in the latest lengthy National Hurricane Center hurricane update Friday afternoon.

FEMA officials said they have dispatched Incident Management Assistance Teams to 9 northeast states. New Jersey is not among them.

Earl has slipped from a dangerous Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 140 miles per hour to a nuisance Category 1 with winds that gusting up to 80 mph at its center.

The winds at the Jersey Shore is expected to gust at 24 to 36 miles per hour into Friday night. The National Weather Service predicts a wave surge of 2 to 4 feet. As a precaution due to strong riptides, shore beaches are closed Friday.

Long Island, Cape Cod and Nova Scotia face a greater threat from the hurricane.