Winter Weather — Western Cape May, New Jersey

2009-12-31 · Western Cape May, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

A weak low pressure system dropped light snow across northern and southwestern New Jersey and a wintry mix across southeast New Jersey during the morning of 31st. Snowfall averaged 1 to 3 inches with ice accretions less than one tenth of an inch. Precipitation began as a wintry mix across southeast New Jersey and as snow across southwest New Jersey between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. EST. The snow spread north through the rest of New Jersey by 7 a.m. EST. The wintry mix changed to plain rain around the middle of the morning in southeast New Jersey and continued to fall as light snow elsewhere. All precipitation ended by Noon EST. The precipitation's timing coupled with high traffic volume resulted in numerous accidents. The majority of the reported accidents were in southeastern New Jersey where the frozen precipitation fell primarily as freezing rain.

The most serious accident occurred in Upper Township of Cape May County when a 39-year-old mother and 8-year-old daughter died after she lost control of her vehicle on a curve and collided with a propane truck. In Atlantic County, there were two dozen reported accidents on the Atlantic City Expressway that resulted in five injuries. The tunnel of the Atlantic City Expressway Connector was closed because of an accident. The County Route 152 Bridge between Longport and Somers Point was closed. In Burlington County, the State Police reported about 30 accidents on the Garden State Parkway. In Cumberland County, over three dozen accidents were reported including State Route 47. In Mercer County, 10 accidents were reported in Princeton including an injury when a 36-year-old woman's Sports Utility Vehicle rolled over.

Specific snowfall included 2.4 inches in Wantage (Sussex County), 2.0 inches in Parsippany (Morris County) and Blairstown (Warren County), 1.8 inches in Whitehouse Station (Hunterdon County) and Branchburg (Somerset County), 1.4 inches in Lindenwold (Camden County), 1.3 inches in Florence (Burlington County), 1.2 inches in Metuchen (Middlesex County) and Cream Ridge (Morris County), 1.1 inches in Ewing (Mercer County) and 0.2 inches at the Atlantic City International Airport. Ice accretions were one tenth of an inch or less.

The low pressure system that caused the wintry mix moved northeast from Mobile, Alabama at 7 a.m. EST on the 31st and reached Wilmington, North Carolina at 1 p.m. EST and was southeast of Long Island at 7 p.m. EST that evening.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 205756. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.