New Jersey, 1998

Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in New Jersey, December 23 to 24, 1998

December 23 to 24, 1998 · NWS PHI · 13 events in 13 counties and zones

A series of weak low pressure systems moving northeast along a slow moving cold front over the western Atlantic Ocean brought central and southern New Jersey its first wintry precipitation of the season. Precipitation fell mainly as snow, except along coastal sections of Atlantic County, Cape May and Cumberland Counties where precipitation was mixed with or changed completely over to sleet.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 13 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

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
13

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 series of weak low pressure systems moving northeast along a slow moving cold front over the western Atlantic Ocean brought central and southern New Jersey its first wintry precipitation of the season. Precipitation fell mainly as snow, except along coastal sections of Atlantic County, Cape May and Cumberland Counties where precipitation was mixed with or changed completely over to sleet. The snow started around 6 p.m. EST on the 23rd and changed over to sleet across far southeast New Jersey during the evening. The heaviest precipitation occurred through the evening until around midnight. Light snow lingered through the early morning of the 24th, except for a mixture of freezing drizzle and sleet fell into the morning of the 24th in far southeast New Jersey. The heaviest snowfall accumulations occurred just to the north of the transition zone to sleet across Salem, southern Gloucester, southern Camden, western Atlantic, southern Burlington and central Ocean Counties. Accumulations in this band averaged around 4 inches. Elsewhere accumulations were mainly 2 to 3 inches. Accumulations were an inch or less from Somerset County northwestward. This first wintry precipitation of the season caused many accidents, mainly fender benders during the evening of the 23rd. There were 60 accidents alone in Camden County between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. EST. There were also several accidents along Interstate 295 in Hamilton (Mercer County) and sixteen accidents in Dover Township (Ocean County). Several cars flipped over on the Garden State Parkway in Ocean County. Accumulations included 5.0 inches in Folsom (Atlantic County), 4.5 inches in Tabernacle (Burlington County), 4.3 inches in Clayton (Gloucester County), 4.0 inches in Toms River (Ocean County), 3.0 inches in Holmdel (Monmouth County), 2.8 inches in Somerdale (Camden County), 2.7 inches at the Atlantic City International Airport, and 2.0 inches in Mount Holly (Burlington County), Swainton (Cape May County), Millville (Cumberland County) and Hightstown (Mercer County). The snowfall from this one storm exceeded the total for some locations for the entire last winter season. It also was the first time since 1966 that more than one inch of snow fell on one of the two days before Christmas in the greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

12 winter weather, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Burlington

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Burlington forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.878, -74.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Camden

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Camden forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.804, -74.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Eastern Monmouth

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Eastern Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Eastern Ocean

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Eastern Ocean forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Gloucester

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Gloucester forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.717, -75.142 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Salem

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Salem forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.577, -75.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Western Monmouth

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Western Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Western Ocean

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Western Ocean forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Cumberland

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Cumberland forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.328, -75.129 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Eastern Atlantic

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Eastern Atlantic forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Eastern Cape May

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Eastern Cape May forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Western Cape May

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 5:00 AM EST
Where
Western Cape May forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Western Atlantic

When
December 23, 6:00 PM EST to December 24, 7:00 AM EST
Where
Western Atlantic forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Weather
Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
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

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, December 1998

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5673492, 5673493, 5673494, 5673495, 5673496, 5673497, 5673498, 5673499, 5673500, 5673501, 5673502, 5673503, 5673504.