Winter Storm in New Jersey, January 9, 1997

A double barrel low pressure system brought a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain across the region. This caused numerous accidents. Snow overspread the region during the late morning on the 9th and started mixing with and changing over to sleet and freezing rain by the early evening commute home. Snowfall accumulations averaged between 1 and 2 inches. This was topped by a layer of sleet and freezing rain which made travel extremely hazardous on untreated roadways. Over thirty separate accidents were reported by the New Jersey State Police in Warren and Hunterdon Counties. Farther east numerous crashes snarled traffic for hours along Interstate 287 in Morris and Somerset Counties. The two low pressure systems responsible for the wintry mix moved from the Ohio Valley and Georgia the morning of the 9th to Lake Huron (the former) and Boston (the latter) the morning of the 10th. Since these lows kept their separate identities and did not merge into one, precipitation amounts were not as heavy as they could have been. All of the significant precipitation was over by the late evening of the 9th.