The fire broke out around midday Wednesday, fueled by hot, dry conditions and fanned by strong winds that quickly whipped up the flames burning through a pine forest.
Roads were overwhelmed in Oklahoma and Texas on Wednesday as a stalled frontal boundary brought torrential rain. Millions were under flood warnings or alerts.
On Monday, 36 million people are under the risk of severe storms in which strong tornadoes, hail up to 2 inches in diameter and damaging straight-line winds are possible.
Trail cameras installed by a group of volunteers documented the first mountain lion back in the area March 26. It was seen again as recently as two nights ago.
Joseph Kling of Ocean Township is accused of setting wooden pallets on fire and then leaving the area without ensuring that the flames were fully extinguished, prosecutors said.
The Jones Road Wildfire started in the Greenwood Forest Wildlife Management area in Ocean County on Tuesday and exploded to 13,250 acres, the Forest Fire Service said.
No deaths or injuries have been reported, but the state forest fire service said 1,320 structures were threatened. The fire grew to over 8,000 acres by Tuesday night.
The National Weather Service’s reduction in weather balloon launches meant forecasters had less data available when the central U.S. got hammered with hail and tornadoes.
