Heavy Snow, Middlesex
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Middlesex forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.440, -74.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in New Jersey, March 2, 1996
A low pressure system formed off the South Carolina Coastal waters on the morning of the 1st. It moved north during the next two days and was about 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras at dawn on the 2nd and about 150 miles east of Atlantic City during the afternoon.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 15 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 15
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS PHI wrote it up.
A low pressure system formed off the South Carolina Coastal waters on the morning of the 1st. It moved north during the next two days and was about 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras at dawn on the 2nd and about 150 miles east of Atlantic City during the afternoon. Its storm track was far enough offshore to place the axis of heavy snow across New Jersey. Very little snow fell farther west.Snow began just after midnight on the 2nd and fell at a heavy clip almost from the start. The heavy snow was over by noon. Accumulations of 6 to 8 inches were fairly common throughout the southern half of the state. Around 6 inches of snow fell in Mercer, Middlesex and Monmouth Counties; 4 to 5 inches in Morris, Hunterdon and Somerset Counties and 2 to 4 inches across Warren and Sussex Counties. Some representative accumulations included 9 inches at McGuire AFB and Tabernacle, 8 inches in Mount Holly, Toms River and Washington Township (Gloucester County), 7 inches in Marlboro and Cherry Hill and 6 inches in Pilesgrove, Iselin, Atlantic City and Cape May City.Because this snow fell on a Saturday morning, the number of accidents was held down. There were two separate crashes involving buses with snow as a contributing factor. In Old Bridge Township at 520 a.m., a 65-year-old man passsenger was killed on a Gray Line Tour Bus as it slid and overturned on the Garden State Parkway. Thirty-four other people were injured. The parkway was closed for seven hours between the Asbury Park and Raritan Toll Plazas. At 8 a.m. in Hammonton a Greyhound Bus coming from Atlantic City collided with a Chevrolet Monte Carlo that was spinning out of control on the Atlantic City Expressway. Forty-six passengers were injured.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
15 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Western Monmouth
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Monmouth forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Eastern Monmouth
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Monmouth forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Mercer
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Mercer forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 40.283, -74.702 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Salem
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Salem forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.577, -75.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Gloucester
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Gloucester forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.717, -75.142 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Camden
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Camden forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.804, -74.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Northwestern Burlington
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Northwestern Burlington forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.878, -74.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Western Ocean
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Ocean forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Cumberland
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Cumberland forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.328, -75.129 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Western Atlantic
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Atlantic forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Western Cape May
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Cape May forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Eastern Cape May
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Cape May forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Eastern Atlantic
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Atlantic forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Eastern Ocean
- When
- March 2, 1:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Ocean forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in Massachusetts, March 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, March 2 to 3, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Maine, March 2 to 3, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Rhode Island, March 2, 1996
- Winter Weather in Maryland, March 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New York, March 2, 1996
- Winter Weather in Delaware, March 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Maryland, March 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Connecticut, March 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, March 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, March 2, 1996
- Heavy Snow in Ohio, March 2 to 3, 1996
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, March 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5552348, 5552349, 5552350, 5552351, 5552352, 5552353, 5552354, 5552500, 5552501, 5552502, 5552503, 5552504, 5552505, 5552506, 5552507.