Winter Storm in New Jersey, February 4 to 5, 1998

The strongest northeaster of the winter battered coastal areas and caused a prolong period of snow, sleet and freezing rain across Northwest New Jersey. The storm system developed in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico during the night of February 1st and moved northeast. At 7 a.m. EST on the 3rd it was centered near Appalachicola, Florida and at 7 a.m. EST on the 4th it was located near Charlestown, South Carolina. From there it continued to move northeast and intensify and was just east of Cape Hatteras at 7 p.m. EST on the 4th. The northeaster took a more easterly track overnight on the 4th and by 7 a.m. EST on the 5th was located about 175 miles southeast of Atlantic City. The storm then accelerated and was well east of the Delmarva Peninsula the morning of the 6th. Precipitation started as snow during the early evening of the 4th and changed over to rain as warmer air moved into higher levels of the atmosphere. Unfortunately the northeast winds circulating around this storm trapped cold air in the valleys of Sussex, Warren and Morris Counties and caused precipitation to fall as mainly freezing rain throughout the night of the 4th into the morning of the 5th. Precipitation changed back to snow before it ended the afternoon of the 5th. Around an inch water equivalent of precipitation fell, most as freezing rain in the valleys. Snowfall accumulations averaged around two inches mainly in Sussex County. GPU reported 12,500 customers lost power the night of the 4th and the morning of the 5th. Five thousand were in Sussex County. The last two thousand to get power restored the evening of the 5th were in Mount Olive and Roxbury Townships in Morris County as numerous wires were knocked down.