High Wind in New Jersey, January 7 to 8, 1996

The Blizzard of '96, the second coined "STORM OF THE CENTURY" of this decade brought record breaking snow to most of New Jersey and paralyzed the region for several days, caused most municipalities to exceed their annual snow budgets during this one storm, caused several building collapses, its high winds caused 57,000 homes to lose power, caused directly or indirectly 28 deaths and countless injuries and produced moderate flooding with moderate to severe beach erosion from Manasquan south along the New Jersey Shore. Four women died of hypothermia, one each in Atlantic, Burlington, Mercer and Ocean Counties. Twenty-three persons suffered heart attacks and died while shoveling snow, using snowblowers or trying to walk in the deep snow. One traffic fatality occurred early in the storm as a car slid off the Atlantic City Expressway and hit a tree during the predawn hours of the 7th in Hammonton. The number of deaths and injuries was reduced by the storm starting before dawn on Sunday with blizzard conditions in full force during the afternoon. The storm formed in the Gulf of Mexico on the morning of the 6th, moved south of Alabama the evening of the 6th, reached Savannah Georgia the morning of the 7th, Cape Hatteras the evening of the 7th, moved just to the west of the Delaware Bay Buoy the morning of the 8th before reaching the Southern New England coastal waters the evening of the 8th. This was a classic a storm track for heavy snow. Precipitation was all snow in Northwest New Jersey, fell as mostly snow with some sleet in Central and Southwest New Jersey and started as snow, but changed to sleet and freezing rain before ending as snow in Southeast New Jersey. Snow began falling during the predawn hours on the 7th and became heavy at times during the morning. Blizzard conditions developed during the afternoon and evening as strong northeast winds developed around the intensifying low. There was a lull in the precipitation after midnight on the 8th, before some wraparound snow returned during the daylight hours.A state of emergency was declared by Governor Whitman on the 7th and was not lifted until the 13th. The state was also declared a disaster area with storm related costs topping 50 million dollars. A driving ban was in effect from the 7th to the morning of the 9th. There was no postal delivery on the 8th. Some schools started opening on Wednesday the 10th. The National Guard helped with snow removal and four wheel drive vehicles were used to transport medical personnel and patients to and from hospitals. The New Jersey Turnpike was closed for its entire length the first time in its 48 year history. More than 1000 cars had to be towed from major New Jersey highways on Sunday. Persons were trapped at rest stops, especially in the northern half of the state. The high winds and powdery snow made it very difficult for road crews to keep roadways open. Drifts reached 12 feet. Snowfall accumulations averaged 18 to 28 inches with a few higher amounts across North Central New Jersey and lower amounts in Southeast New Jersey. Accumulations averaged 24 to 27 inches in Sussex County, 20 to 27 inches in Warren County, 23 to 28 inches in Morris County, 20 to 30 inches in Hunterdon, Somerset, Mercer and Monmouth Counties, 19 to 32 inches in Middlesex County, 18 to 31 inches in Burlington County, 16 to 24 inches in Salem, Gloucester and Camden Counties, 24 inches inland and 10 to 14 inches at the coast in Ocean County and 10 to 18 inches in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland Counties. Specific accumulations included 32 inches in Edison, 31 inches in Bordentown, 30 inches in Whitehouse Station, Raritan and Howell, 28 inches in Long Valley and Freehold, 27 inches at McGuire AFB, Charlotteburg, Hackettstown and Newton, 24 inches in Pennsauken, Chatham and Dover (Ocean County), 22 inches in Belle Mead, New Brunswick, Mount Holly and Somerdale, 15 inches in Beach Haven, Millville and Pomona and 12 inches in Pleasantville and Cape May City. In addition to the heavy snow, wind gusts reached hurricane force along the coast during the evening of the 7th. An 81 mph gust was recorded in Ocean Grove. Eight housing additions in Manasquan collapsed. Navigation Tower aides at Point Pleasant and Manasquan were toppled. Jersey Central Power and Light reported 14,500 homes lost power, 8,000 occurred in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Atlantic Electric reported 45,000 homes lost power between 10 p.m. on the 7th and 2 a.m. on the 8th, 20,000 within Cape May County. The power problems were exacerbated in Southeast New Jersey by the combination of freezing rain and sleet that was falling during the high winds. Public Service Electric and Gas reported about 3,000 homes lost power, mainly in Somerset County.While accumulations were lighter along the shore, the strong northeast flow around the low produced moderate tidal flooding around the evening high tide on the 7th. Tides were three to four feet above normal. Luckily this did not coincide with spring tides and was the lower of the two high tides for the day. The tide reached 7.5 ft above mean low water in Atlantic City and 8.5 ft above mean low water in Cape May. The winds shifted to the northwest Monday morning just in time to prevent worse flooding. Evacuations of some coastal residents occurred in Belmar, Port Monmouth, Sea Bright and Manasquan in Monmouth County. Street flooding was reported in these areas and also in Avon. In Sea Bright, flooding from the Shrewsbury River exacerbated the flooding. New Jersey State Route 36 was closed from the Highlands/Sea Bright Bridge through Monmouth Beach. In Ocean County, there was bayside flooding in Point Pleasant. Shelters were open in Stafford and Berkley Townships. In Atlantic County, the Black Horse Pike was closed because of tidal flooding. The 34th St. Causeway flooded in Margate. Red Cross Shelters were opened in Brigantine, Atlantic City, Somers Point and Ventnor. Evacuations included a nursing home in Atlantic City. Minor tidal flooding was reported elsewhere in Atlantic City and also in Longport, Margate and Ventnor. Large sand-filled "geotubes" were given credit for saving Atlantic City from further property damage. In Cape May County, about 60 persons were evacuated from North Wildwood, Ocean City, Sea Isle City and West Wildwood. Cars were stuck in the tidal flooding in North Wildwood. About 100 homes were damaged by bay flooding in West Wildwood. Some tidal flooding was also reported in Avalon on Ocean and Dune Drives. Other roads closed due to flooding were the 9th Street Bridge and West Avenue in Ocean City and the George Redding Bridge in Wildwood. By far the worst damage done along the coast was the erosion. Its estimated about $26 million worth of sand was scoured away by the blizzard leaving some locations vulnerable to future storms with the worst damage from Manasquan southward. In Manasquan the storm scoured vertically about four feet of beach for a 500 foot stretch. In Ocean County severe erosion was reported by almost every township along the shore. In Brant Beach, a breach occurred at 51st Street as the dunes washed away. Six homes built atop of pilings were hanging over the ocean. In Harvey Cedars, about 500,000 cubic yards (Estimated cost $4 million) of sand was lost leaving two to five foot cliffs. Many of its snow fences were torn away. The beaches were in very serious condition in Mantaloking (100,000 cubic yards of sand lost.) and Lavalette (About $2 million of sand lost.). In Atlantic County, the beaches in front of Atlantic City's Claridge Hotel and Casino and Convention Hall were virtually gone. Ventnor lost about six to eight feet of beach. In Brigantine, damage was done to the north end sea wall. In Cape May County, severe erosion was reported in Sea Isle City (Eight blocks of dune lost on the north side of town with up to 10 feet of beach lost.), Stratmere (Heavy erosion south side of town.), Stone Harbor, Townsends Inlet (Fifteen foot gaps made between the dunes.) and Cape May Point State Park (Lost up to 15 feet of sand.). The pounding surf also washed-up a large number of clams in Upper Township, Sea Isle City and North Wildwood. About 2.5 million clams washed ashore.The weight of the snow also led to several building or roof collapses throughout the state. These included a TJ Maxx in Edison Township, Schroeder Brother Construction in Warren Township, a Pepsi-Cola bottling plant in Ocean Township, a health club on New Jersey State Route 41 in Deptford with one injury and a Sonoco Products Division in Monmouth Junction.