Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, December 13 to 14, 2000

A winter storm of sleet and freezing rain encrusted much of Northwest New Jersey with a combination of about three-quarters of an inch of sleet and ice. A combination of about an inch and a half of snow, sleet and ice fell in Sussex County. Precipitation began during the late evening of the 13th as a mixture of sleet and snow in Sussex County, a mixture of sleet and freezing rain across the rest of Northwest New Jersey and as mainly freezing rain across central New Jersey. Precipitation changed to plain rain in Trenton and New Brunswick by around 3 a.m. EST on the 14th with ice accretions generally less than one-tenth of an inch. By that time across Northwest New Jersey precipitation was falling as mainly freezing rain. Temperatures slowly rose above freezing from southwest to northeast that morning, but took until around 900 a.m. EST for the last of the sub-freezing air to be scoured from the valleys of Sussex County. The hardest hit locations were in a strip across northern Hunterdon County, Warren County, southeastern Sussex County, northern Somerset County and western Morris County where freezing rain was the predominate precipitation type. Ice accretions in these areas averaged around half an inch. Elsewhere ice accretions were around one-quarter of an inch as either more sleet and snow fell (farther to the northwest) or the precipitation changed to plain rain (central New Jersey) faster. The ice knocked down tree limbs and power lines. GPU Energy reported about 9,000 customers lost power. Power was restored the afternoon of the 14th. Schools were closed in Sussex County. Two hour opening delays were common elsewhere. Precipitation occurred overnight and this reduced the number of accidents. The greatest number were reported in Sussex County where the freezing rain lingered into the morning commute. A strong high pressure system nestled itself across the northeastern United States on the 13th. It brought some very cold and dry air into the region. As the high moved offshore the evening of the 13th, temperatures did not have enough time to recover to the freezing mark. During the evening of the 13th, the low pressure system moved from the lower Tennessee Valley northeast into the upper Ohio Valley during the early morning of the 14th. A secondary low pressure system did form in Chesapeake Bay toward dawn on the 14th and moved northeast through New Jersey during the morning. It eventually became the primary low pressure system on that afternoon as it headed toward Cape Cod. These lows were relatively weak (their central pressures as of 1 p.m. EST on the 14th were around normal sea level pressure). Thus as warmer air was streaming in aloft, the weak southeast flow from the relatively warm Atlantic Ocean took a while to move inland and change the freezing rain to plain rain, especially in Sussex County.