Winter Weather — Western Cape May, New Jersey

2015-02-21 · Western Cape May, New Jersey

Wider weather episode

A winter storm produced a protracted mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain across most of New Jersey during the afternoon into the overnight of the 21st and lasted through the entire overnight in far northwest New Jersey where precipitation fell mainly as snow. Snowfall averaged 3 to 6 inches, with slightly lower amounts in the southeast part of the state. In addition, ice accumulations averaged one tenth to one quarter of an inch in the central and southwest part of the state. The hardest hit locations were along the Interstate 95/New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 195 corridors. Travel was extremely difficult, especially during the second half of the afternoon and evening.

Precipitation started as snow throughout New Jersey during the early afternoon on the 21st and fell heavy at times during the afternoon in the central and southwest part of the state. In northwest New Jersey precipitation remained as snow and ended during the pre-dawn hours on the 22nd. In the Raritan Basin, the snow changed to a wintry mix late in the evening on the 21st and the precipitation ended toward sunrise on the 22nd. In Monmouth County and along the Interstate 295 corridor in southwest New Jersey, the snow changed to sleet and then freezing rain during the first half of the evening on the 21st and then to plain rain by late that evening. The rain ended around sunrise on the 22nd. In southeast New Jersey, the snow changed to sleet and then freezing rain during the early evening on the 21st and then to plain rain during the middle of that evening. The rain ended around sunrise on the 22nd.

In Cape May County, a fatal accident occurred on the westbound North Wildwood Causeway Bridge. Seven other separate accidents with two injuries also occurred on that bridge. In Warren County, a motor vehicle accident that involved a jack-knifed tractor trailer closed all eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 in Hardwick Township. In Camden County, a major back-up occurred near the junction of State Routes 42 and 55 because of numerous spin-outs. These were just some of the hundreds of accidents that occurred on the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, Atlantic City Expressway, Interstate 287, U.S. Route 206 and New Jersey State Route 38. Speed limits on major roadways in the state as well as the Delaware River bridges in the Philadelphia metropolitan area were reduced to 35 mph. The Cape May-Lewes Ferry suspended service.

Representative ice accumulations included 0.30 inches in Jackson (Ocean County), 0.25 inches in Manalapan (Monmouth County), 0.2 inches in Florence (Burlington County), Newport (Cumberland County), Washington Township (Gloucester County) and Haddon Heights (Camden County), 0.15 inches in Mount Holly (Burlington County), Princeton (Mercer County) and Freehold (Monmouth County) and 0.1 inch in Somerville (Somerset County) and the Atlantic City International Airport (Atlantic County) and Vineland (Cumberland County).

Representative snowfall included 6.5 inches in Berkeley Township (Ocean County), 6.2 inches in Florence (Burlington County), 6.0 inches in Voorhees (Camden County), Pittsgrove Township (Salem County) and Lavallette (Ocean County), 5.5 inches in Highland Lakes (Sussex County), Mansfield Township (Burlington County), Malaga (Gloucester County) and Cherry Hill (Camden County), 5.2 inches in Eastampton Township (Burlington County), 5.0 inches in Bellmawr (Camden County), 4.8 inches in Lumberton (Burlington County), 4.5 inches in Quinton (Salem County), Chester Township (Morris County) and Winslow Township (Camden County), 4.3 inches in Tabernacle (Burlington County), 4.2 inches in Williamstown (Gloucester County) and Millstone Township (Monmouth County), 4.1 inches in Hamilton Township (Mercer County), 4.0 inches in Kingwood (Hunterdon County), Vernon Township (Sussex County), Hackettstown (Warren County), Howell (Monmouth County), Princeton (Mercer County) and Metuchen (Middlesex County), 3.9 inches in Flemington (Hunterdon County), 3.7 inches in Butler (Morris County) and Bridgewater and Hillsborough Townships (Somerset County), 3.5 inches in Southampton Township (Burlington County), Hope (Warren County), Marcella (Morris County), Ewing (Mercer County) and Upper Deerfield Township (Cumberland County), 3.3 inches in Readington Township (Hunterdon County) and Point Pleasant (Ocean County), 3.2 inches in Deans (Middlesex County), 3.0 inches in North Plainfield (Somerset County), Hammonton (Atlantic County) and Lafayette (Sussex County), 2.5 inches in Vineland (Cumberland County) and East Brunswick (Middlesex County), 1.6 inches in Estell Manor (Atlantic County), 1.0 inch at the Atlantic City International Airport and 0.5 inches in Margate (Atlantic County).

The winter storm was caused by a low pressure system that moved northeast from the southern Mississippi River Valley on the morning of the 21st, to the Tennessee River Valley on the early evening of the 21st, into south central Pennsylvania early on the 22nd and then rapidly reached the Canadian Maritimes on the morning of the 22nd. In spite of the surface high pressure system being offshore (in an unfavorable position normally for snow and ice) at the onset of the event, the combination of extremely cold antecedent conditions and a relatively weak low pressure system (made it more difficult to remove cold air near the surface) still caused a winter weather event in New Jersey.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 560540. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.