Winter Storm and Heavy Rain in New Jersey, January 13 to 15, 1999

A very protracted winter storm affected most of New Jersey from the 13th through the 15th. A combination of snow, sleet and heavy freezing rain fell across the region. Heavy rain fell across central and southern New Jersey the morning of the 15th as heavy freezing rain fell farther north. The heavy freezing rain knocked down tree limbs and power lines and caused 109,000 homes and businesses to lose power in the state. The water equivalent of frozen precipitation (snow, sleet and/or freezing rain) was between one inch and one inch and a half. The highest accrual of ice of nearly one inch occurred in northwest New Jersey. Most of central and southern New Jersey east of the New Jersey Turnpike escaped most of the damage as the temperatures rose freezing just as the heavy rain moved in. A cold front moved through the state the afternoon and evening of the 13th. Extremely cold air moved south behind it. Unlike the usual pattern with cold frontal passages, precipitation occurred behind the front and slowly worked its way south from the late afternoon on the 13th into the very early morning of the 14th. Precipitation started as sleet and snow in northwest New Jersey, but started as either freezing rain or sleet farther south. Amounts through daybreak on the 14th were very light, generally just a few hundredths of an inch. A weak low pressure system developed on the cold front in the Tennessee Valley on the 14th, but weakened as it moved east off the Delmarva Peninsula during the evening of the 14th. A very strong high pressure system built into northern New England on the 14th. The high moved offshore the evening of the 14th and the flow across the Middle Atlantic States became more easterly. This permitted warmer air to move back quicker into the region during the late afternoon and evening of the 14th just as a second and stronger low pressure system was getting organized over the Tennessee Valley. A secondary low formed near Norfolk during the early morning of the 15th and this not only accelerated the increase of warmer air, but also produced heavy precipitation.During the day on the 14th, the cold air became deep enough for precipitation to fall as primarily snow and sleet across central and northern New Jersey. While sleet was mixed in with the rain across southeast New Jersey, temperatures remained above the freezing mark. During the afternoon and evening of the 14th, the transition back to freezing rain started, first in the Philadelphia suburbs and Ocean and Monmouth Counties around 4 p.m. EST and spread northwest throughout the state by midnight. Enough warm air moved in to change the freezing rain to rain in southwest and east central New Jersey between 1 a.m.and 4 a.m. EST on the 15th, just as the heavy precipitation moved in. The change to plain rain occurred around 6 a.m. EST in the Trenton area and between 7 a.m. EST and 9 a.m. EST across most of Northwest New Jersey. Precipitation changed back to snow as it ended in Sussex County. Snow and sleet accumulations were around 5 inches in Sussex County, 2 to 4 inches in Warren and Morris Counties and about an inch or two from Somerset and Hunterdon Counties southward. Ice accretions reached nearly one inch in northwest New Jersey, around half an inch in Mercer and Middlesex Counties and up to one quarter of an inch in Burlington County. Less than a quarter of an inch accrued in the rest of southwest New Jersey and in interior Ocean and Monmouth Counties. Storm total amounts averaged around 1.25 inches, most fell during the morning of the 15th. Where precipitation fell as mainly rain, there was some poor drainage flooding, but no serious problems were reported. Many schools were closed on the 14th. Many schools were closed in northwest New Jersey on the 15th also. Numerous vehicular accidents occurred. In Sussex County, many roads had to be cleared of debris (downed limbs and wires). In Morris County, many roads were closed because of accidents and/or downed wires. One of the worst accidents occurred in Parsippany the morning of the 15th when a sliding automobile initiated a 10 car pile-up on an icy ramp leading from Interstate 287 to Interstate 80. Twenty minutes later, a similar 5 vehicle accident occurred on another ramp. In Middlesex County on the 15th three tractor trailers collided at 630 a.m. EST on the New Jersey Turnpike near Woodbridge. In Mercer County, a fatal accident claimed the life of a 67-year-old-woman in Princeton. In Hunterdon County, motorists were having a hard time on ramps off the major roadways including New Jersey State Routes 12, 29 and 31 as well as U.S> Route 202. There were also dozens of "slip and fall" pedestrian accidents. About 109,000 residents in New Jersey lost power. In the four northwestern New Jersey counties, 14,500 GPU customers lost power. About 85,000 Public Service Electric and Gas customers lost power in the corridor from Mercer to Bergen Counties. Hardest hit in central New Jersey were with Middlesex and Somerset Counties with 17,000 outages. Once temperatures went above freezing, the problems did not stop. The Commodore Barry (between Gloucester and Delaware Counties) and Walt Whitman (between Camden and Philadelphia Counties) Bridges were both closed during the morning and early afternoon (respectively) of the 15th because of ice falling from overhead cables and beams. A similar occurrence happened on the Delaware Memorial Bridge connecting Salem County New Jersey and New Castle County Delaware. Several vehicles suffered cracked windshields and/or dents. The two outside lanes of the Ben Franklin Bridge were also closed. Driving conditions deteriorated in parts of west central and northwest New Jersey the evening of the 15th after the rain and above freezing temperatures had washed away the salt. Temperatures dropped below freezing and standing water turned to black ice. Numerous accidents and problems were reported in Hunterdon County.Snow and sleet accumulations for the entire event included 5.3 inches in Montague (Sussex County), 4.9 inches in Wantage (Sussex County), 4.2 inches in Sussex (Sussex County), 4.0 inches in Boonton (Morris County), 2 inches in Long Valley (Morris County), 2 inches in Hackettstown and Belvidere (Warren County), Washington's Crossing (Mercer County) and Somerville (Somerset County) and 1 inch in Wertsville (Hunterdon County). Event total water equivalents included 2.09 inches in Atsion (Burlington County), 1.87 inches in Estell Manor (Atlantic County), 1.85 inches in Millville (Cumberland County), 1.71 inches in Margate (Atlantic County), 1.68 inches in Princeton (Mercer County), 1.67 inches at the McGuire AFB (Burlington County), 1.66 inches at both the Marina and the Atlantic City International Airport, 1.59 inches in Flemington (Hunterdon County), 1.58 inches in Somerdale (Camden County) and Wantage (Sussex County), 1.53 inches in Belvidere (Warren County), 1.37 inches in Toms River (Ocean County), 1.32 inches in New Brunswick (Middlesex County)and Pottersville (Somerset County) and 1.09 inches in West Deptford.