Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, December 22 to 23, 1997

A high pressure system moved across the Middle Atlantic and New England States on the 21st and 22nd. It brought dry and cold air into the region. Early Monday morning (the 22nd) a secondary low pressure system was developing off the South Carolina Coast as its primary system was weakening in the Tennessee Valley. The South Carolina low intensified and moved quickly up the Eastern Seaboard and was just south of Long Island at 7 a.m. EST on the 23rd. While warmer air arrived across New Jersey above the ground, the low moved too quickly (coupled with a land-based northeast flow trajectory) to permit surface temperatures to get above freezing, This was especially true in Warren and Sussex Counties. Precipitation started briefly as light snow and sleet the afternoon of the 22nd, but once it intensified during the night time hours of the 22nd and 23rd, it fell mainly as freezing rain. Temperatures did slowly rise overnight and most locations in Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris and Somerset Counties were above the freezing mark by the morning of the 23rd. An inch or less of snow fell across the area and between a quarter to a half an inch of ice accrued on exposed surfaces. Driving was hazardous on untreated roadways and the freezing rain contributed to numerous accidents, although no very serious ones were reported.