Winter Storm — Mercer, New Jersey

2011-02-01 to 2011-02-02 · Mercer, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

A protracted winter storm dropped several inches of sleet and snow in Sussex County and included a long period of freezing rain that produced ice accretions of around half an inch in the Raritan Basin and the rest of Northwest New Jersey. The ice accretions took down weak trees, tree limbs and power lines. About 36,000 homes and businesses lost power. Power was not fully restored until the afternoon of the 3rd. Amtrak rail service between Philadelphia and New York City was disrupted on the 2nd because of icy conditions. Many schools were closed on the 1st and 2nd or closed early on the 1st. All New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicle offices were closed at 1 p.m. EST on the 2nd because of power outages. Recycling and trash collections were delayed. Township municipal meetings were cancelled. This latest winter storm further taxed snow removal budgets, snow days on school calendars and exacerbated the shortage of salt.

Precipitation started as snow across central and northern New Jersey during the early morning of the 1st. As warmer air moved in aloft, the precipitation changed to sleet and then freezing rain between 7 a.m. EST and Noon EST on the 1st. Precipitation tapered off to mainly freezing drizzle during the afternoon of the 1st. Heavier precipitation moved in again during the evening of the 1st and fell as a mixture of sleet and freezing rain in northwest New Jersey and freezing rain in the Raritan Basin. Overnight colder air moved in aloft in far northern New Jersey and precipitation changed back to all sleet. Toward sunrise on the 2nd, this process started to reverse at both the surface and aloft. Warmer air was moving north again and the freezing rain changed to plain rain across the Raritan Basin and Mercer County between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. EST and precipitation changed to all freezing rain in northwest New Jersey. Precipitation ended as freezing rain around 11 a.m. EST on the 2nd in northwest New Jersey.

In Sussex County, numerous vehicles skidded off roadways. In Sparta, an ambulance and postal truck collided, but no injuries occurred. In Warren County, the weight of the snow and ice caused a garage collapse in Washington Township. In Morris County, there were three rollover accidents on Interstate 80 that resulted in injuries. Public bus service was suspended in Parsippany. A barn collapsed because of the weight snow and ice in Long Valley. In Hunterdon County, rollover accidents occurred on Interstate 78. In Somerset County, many roads were closed in Warren township. In Mercer County, a six vehicle accident occurred on Quakerbridge Road in West Windsor Township.

Representative snow and sleet accumulations included 5.2 inches in Wantage (Sussex County), 4.5 inches in Green Pond (Morris County), 3.5 inches in Fredon (Sussex County), 3.0 inches in Butler (Morris County), 0.9 inches in Stewartsville (Warren County) and 0.7 inches in Bedminster (Somerset County). Representative ice accretions included 0.55 inches in White House (Hunterdon County), 0.50 inches in Edison (Middlesex County) and Stewartsville (Warren County), 0.38 inches in Hopewell (Mercer County), 0.30 inches in Somerset (Somerset County), 0.20 inches in Wantage (Sussex County) and 0.1 inches in Green Pond (Morris County).

The protracted precipitation event was caused by a pair of low pressure systems. The first low pressure system moved into the upper Ohio River Valley on the morning of the 1st and then weakened during the day. The second and more stronger low pressure system moved northeast from the lower Mississippi Valley during the early afternoon of the 1st into the lower Ohio River Valley during the early evening of the 1st. It continued to move northeast through the Ohio River Valley overnight and reached northwest Pennsylvania at 7 a.m. EST on the 2nd. At the same time, a high pressure system slid across southern Canada and kept a fresh supply of cold air at and near the surface. This considerably slowed the progression of warmer air in New Jersey. A secondary low pressure system formed on the low's warm front over the Delmarva Peninsula that morning and moved off the New Jersey coast during the late morning. The offshore passage of this low pressure system ended the precipitation associated with this event.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 284088. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.