Winter Weather — Hunterdon, New Jersey
2013-12-08 to 2013-12-09 · Hunterdon, New Jersey
Wider weather episode
A complex low pressure system tracked across the Great Lakes during the 8th and the 9th, allowing an associated frontal boundary to move over the northern Mid Atlantic Region on the 8th, with a secondary area of low pressure forming off the Mid Atlantic coast. Significant forcing and lift within the atmosphere resulted in an intense band of snow developing across northern Maryland during the morning of the 8th. This heavy snow band pushed east, moving over portions of northern Maryland, northern Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania, and into central to southern New Jersey during the afternoon. Heavy snow fell for several hours, and areas under this banding feature received in excess of 6 inches of snow, with the highest snowfall amounts reaching 12 inches. Snowfall rates within this intense snow band reached 2 to 3 inches per hour for a time. Outside of this snow band and its effected area, most locations received between 1 and 4 inches of snow, with mainly less than an inch falling across northern New Jersey and southern parts of the Delmarva.
By late afternoon to the evening of the 8th, the stronger forcing and banding of precipitation diminished, but with warmer air moving into the region, a transition to sleet, freezing rain, and rain occurred from southeast to northwest into the night of the 8th and the early morning of the 9th. The transition to rain occurred more quickly across the Delmarva and into portions of southern New Jersey, while cold air lingering at the surface resulted in freezing rain lasting into the night from around the Lehigh Valley, the Poconos, and into northwest New Jersey. Ice accretion was reported across the area, with ice accumulations in the one tenth to one quarter inch range, mainly from the Interstate 95 corridor on north and westward.
Representative snowfall totals included 11.5 inches in Medford Lakes (Burlington County), 9.5 inches in West Deptford Township (Gloucester County) and in Berkeley Township (Ocean County), 9.3 inches in Southampton Township (Burlington County), 9.0 inches in Beachwood (Ocean County), 8.9 inches in East Greenwich Township (Gloucester County), 8.8 inches in Lindenwold (Camden County), 8.3 inches in Laurel Springs (Camden County), 7.5 inches in Pittsgrove Township (Salem County), 7.0 inches in Pennsville Township (Salem County), 6.8 inches in Collingswood (Camden County), 5.2 inches in Hammonton (Atlantic County), 3.8 inches in Robbinsville (Mercer County), 3.7 inches in Vineland (Cumberland County), 3.5 inches in Folsom (Atlantic County), 3.4 inches in Hamilton Township (Mercer County), 3.0 inches in Millstone Township (Monmouth County), 2.9 inches in Freehold (Monmouth County), 2.0 inches in Lebanon (Hunterdon County) and in Lambertville (Hunterdon County), 1.6 inches in Franklin Township (Somerset County), 1.5 inches in North Brunswick (Middlesex County), 1.2 inches in East Brunswick (Middlesex County) and in Greenwich Township (Warren County), 1.0 inches in Somerville (Somerset County) and in Hackettstown (Warren County) and also in Seaville (Cape May County) and in Florham Park (Morris County), 0.9 inches in Randolph Township (Morris County), 0.5 inches in Avalon (Cape May County), 0.3 inches in Andover Township (Sussex County), and 0.2 inches in Hardyston Township (Sussex County).
Representative ice accumulations included one quarter of an inch in Highland Lake and Newton (Sussex County) and also in Chatham and Pequannock (Morris County), two tenths of an inch in Lafayette (Sussex County), and five hundredths of an inch in Haddon Heights (Camden County).
Because of the winter storm, New Jersey Transit cross-honored commuting tickets and some school districts had two hour delayed openings on the 9th. The snow caused numerous accidents throughout the state. A fatal accident involving a 52-year-old male and 43-year-old female occurred on eastbound Interstate 78 in Union Township (Hunterdon County) on the evening of the 8th. The vehicle veered off the roadway and struck a tree. The interstate was closed in both directions. The westbound lanes reopened at 1220 a.m. EST on the 9th and one lane on the eastbound side was reopened before the morning commute. The Garden State Parkway was snarled and the Delaware Memorial Bridge was closed.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 490982. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.