Heavy Snow — Somerset, New Jersey
2015-03-05 · Somerset, New Jersey
Wider weather episode
Waves of low pressure that formed along a sinking cold front brought New Jersey heavy snow and the southern half of the state its heaviest snow of the season. Snowfall averaged 4 to 9 inches with the highest amounts in central New Jersey. Less snow fell in Sussex County. The heavy snow prompted Governor Chris Christie to declare a state of emergency and close state offices to non emergency personnel. Nearly all schools and universities in the state were closed on the 5th. Many were also closed the next day. The snow also caused hazardous travel and hundreds of accidents, including a fatal one in Somerset County. New Jersey Transit cross-honored transit tickets on the 5th and 6th.
Precipitation with this event started as rain on the 4th. As colder air moved in from the north and precipitation intensity increased, the rain changed to all snow in northwest New Jersey between Midnight EST and 3 a.m. EST on the 5th, in the Raritan Basin and Mercer and Monmouth Counties between 3 a.m. EST and 6 a.m. EST on the 5th and in the southern half of the state (from the I295 corridor southeast and I195 corridor south) between 530 a.m. EST and Noon EST. The precipitation changeover included sleet in southeast New Jersey. The snow fell heavy at times in the central and southern part of the state from the late morning into the mid afternoon on the 5th. The snow ended during the late morning of the 15th in Sussex County. In the rest of the state it ended from northwest to southeast between 6 p.m. EST and 10 p.m. EST on the 5th.
In Somerset County, in Raritan, a 62-year-old man died when the eastbound car he was driving collided with a westbound pickup truck on New Jersey State Route 28. The crash closed the roadway for approximately three hours on the morning of the 5th. Accidents that caused injuries occurred in Ocean County on U.S. Route 70 (overturned vehicle) and on the Garden State Parkway, both in Brick Township.
Accidents that closed major roadways included U.S. Route 46 in both directions in Denville (Morris County), New Jersey State Route 48 in Carneys Point (Salem County), the Northbound New Jersey Turnpike outer roadways in Robbinsville (Mercer County) and New Jersey State Route 28 in Bridgewater Township (Somerset County). In Ocean County, County Route 539 in Barnegat was closed because of an overturned truck. Another accident along the same route in Manchester Township caused 4,000 people to lose power after a vehicle struck a pole. In Monmouth County, Long Branch police had to deliver a baby after a couple got lost on their way to the hospital. New Jersey State police responded to over 150 accidents and incidents. On the local level, South Brunswick (Middlesex County) police responded to 27 accidents alone.
Speed reductions were in effect on the Garden State Parkway and New Jersey Turnpike. Many shopping malls in the greater Philadelphia metropolitan area were closed. Speed restrictions were in place on bridges crossing the Delaware River in and around Philadelphia. Amtrak modified its schedule along the Northeast Corridor. PATCO implemented a snow schedule on its commuter rail line. Many bus routes had delays and re-routes. The winter storm caused 3,646 flights (at least 650 in Philadelphia alone) to be canceled.
The impact from the winter storm continued into the 6th. Many schools were closed. The PARCC school tests had to be rescheduled. Dozens of accidents occurred on the Garden State Parkway in Monmouth County. One hour drives were taking three hours.
Representative snowfall included 9.0 inches in Bethlehem Township (Hunterdon County) and Brick Township (Ocean County), 8.5 inches in Helmetta (Middlesex County) and Manalapan (Monmouth County), 8.3 inches in Westampton Township (Burlington County), 8.2 inches in Hillsborough Township (Somerset County), 8.0 inches in Pitman (Gloucester County) and Hopewell Township (Mercer County), 7.7 inches in Runnemede (Camden County), 7.6 inches in Manasquan (Monmouth County), 7.5 inches in Burlington Township (Burlington County), Pittsgrove Township (Salem County) and South Brunswick (Middlesex County), 7.4 inches in Ewing Township (Mercer County) and Randolph Township (Morris County), 7.3 inches in Somerville (Somerset County), 7.2 inches in Lacey Township (Ocean County) and Stewartsville (Warren County), 7.1 inches in Woodstown (Salem County), 7.0 inches at the Atlantic City International Airport and Cherry Hill (Camden County), 6.8 inches in Lambertville (Hunterdon County), 6.2 inches at Margate (Atlantic County), 6.0 inches in Shamong Township (Burlington County), Hackettstown (Warren County), Vineland (Cumberland County) and Beesleys Point (Cape May County), 5.9 inches in Chatham (Morris County), 5.5 inches in Woodbine (Cape May County) and Bridgeton (Cumberland County), 5.2 inches in Cape May (Cape May County) and 4.3 inches in Hardyston Township (Sussex County).
The cold front moved through New Jersey on the evening of the 4th. The wave of low pressure on the front was in the Tennessee Valley at that time. At 7 a.m. EST on the 5th, it reached western North Carolina and at 1 p.m. EST on the 5th, the strongest low pressure system wave was near Wilmington, North Carolina. Waves of low pressure continued to sink father south and at 7 p.m. EST on the 5th, the strongest wave was over central South Carolina. That wave and the associated cold front continued to move farther to the southeast that evening bringing an end to the snow in New Jersey. The fresh snow cover and clear skies that occurred overnight led to new daily low temperature records at both Trenton (6 degrees above zero) and at the Atlantic City International Airport (8 degrees above zero). In both places, the previous daily records for March 6th were set in the late 19th century.
Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 565216. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.