Winter Storm — Middlesex, New Jersey

2013-02-08 to 2013-02-09 · Middlesex, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

An area of low pressure developed across the northern plains on Thursday February 7th, tracking eastward. Meanwhile, another area of low pressure developed along the coast of North Carolina, tracking northeast. Both lows approached the area on Friday February 8th with the coastal low intensifying as it moved toward the northeast. The two lows interacted with one another with the coastal low eventually absorbing the inland low late Friday. The system moved off toward New England on Friday night, moving into the Canadian maritimes by Saturday afternoon.

Schools across northern New Jersey closed on Friday February 8th in advance of the expected snow. Roadways became slippery and hazardous across the state. Speed restrictions were posted on many area roadways including the Atlantic City Expressway, Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. Bus and rail service were suspended due to hazardous road conditions and icy rails. Bus and Rail service was restored by Saturday afternoon. In addition, scattered power outages were reported, mainly in the northern portion of the state, with service restored by Saturday afternoon.

A 50 year old woman was killed when she lost control of her car and slid into oncoming traffic in Piscataway (Middlesex County) . A 65 year old man in the oncoming car suffered minor injuries in the crash.

Majority of the winds were a result of the northwesterly flow behind the departing low although a few of the gusts occurred in the northeast flow as the storm deepened. Wind gusts were generally in the range of 40 to 50 mph with a few higher gusts reported. Scattered power outages reported as result of the gusty winds. Peak wind speeds included 56 mph in Cape May Harbor (Cape May County), 53 mph in Wantage (Sussex County), 51 mph at the High Point Monument (Sussex County), 49 mph at the Cape May Ferry Terminal (Cape May County), 46 mph in Tuckerton (Ocean County), 43 mph in Woodbine (Cape May County) and at the Atlantic City Marina, and 41 mph in Sea Girt (Monmouth County) and West Cape May (Cape May County).

Precipitation started to spread across the area during the morning hours on Friday February 8th. Areas across northern New Jersey started as all snow and remained snow through the entire event. Some areas started as a mix of snow and rain before changing over to all rain during the daytime hours. A changeover to all snow occurred during the evening. Total snowfall accumulations varied widely across the forecast areas with a fairly tight gradient from northeast to southwest in New Jersey. Amounts across the higher terrain were mainly in the 9 to 12 inch range with up to 14 inches reported in parts of Sussex and Morris Counties. Mainly 4 to 9 inches were reported across the remainder of northern and central New Jersey. South central New Jersey saw 3 to 6 inches with southern New Jersey seeing 3 inches or less. Only trace amounts of snow were reported across the southern most points in New Jersey.

Representative snowfall included 14.1 inches in Vernon Township (Sussex County), 14.0 inches in Chatham (Morris County), 13.0 inches in Green Pond (Morris County), 12.0 inches in Mine Hill Township (Morris County), 11.5 inches in Allenhurst (Monmouth County), 11 inches in Wall Township (Monmouth County), 8.9 inches in Metuchen (Middlesex County), 8.8 inches in South Plainfield (Middlesex County), 8.5 inches in Basking Rdige (Somerset County), 8.2 inches in Bound Brook (Somerset County), 7.8 inches in Allamuchy Township (Warren County), 7.2 inches in Lawrenceville (Mercer County) and Flemington (Hunterdon County), 7.0 inches in Forked River (Ocean County), Princeton and Pennington (Mercer County), and Mansfield Township and Hackettstown (Warren County), 6.8 inches in Wertsville (Hunterdon County) and Point Pleasant (Ocean County), 6.5 inches in Lanoka Harbor (Ocean County), 5.8 inches in Bordentown (Burlington County), 5.5 inches in Southampton (Burlington County), 4.5 inches at the Mount Holly WFO (Burlington County), 2.5 inches in Mays Landing (Atlantic County), 2.3 inches in Washington Township (Gloucester County), 2.0 inches in Vineland (Cumberland County), Berlin (Camden County), Buena Vista and Hammonton (Atlantic County), 1.8 inches in Pennsauken (Camden County), 1.7 inches at the Atlantic City Airport, and 0.5 inches in Woodbine, Beesley's Point and Seaville (Cape May County).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 434997. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.