Winter Storm and Sleet in New Jersey, February 18 to 19, 2000

Snow spread across New Jersey between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. EST on Friday, February 18th. As warmer air moved in aloft as the day progressed, the snow changed to sleet and then to rain. Unfortunately the change to rain occurred across most of Northwest New Jersey when surface temperatures were well below freezing and never reached it throughout this event. Farther southeast, the change to plain rain occurred by noon EST in the southern half of New Jersey and by 3 p.m. EST across central New Jersey. Farther to the northwest, the change to sleet and freezing rain occurred between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. EST. Periods of light rain persisted into the morning of the 19th across central and southern New Jersey, but light freezing rain continued to occur in northwest New Jersey. Snowfall accumulations prior to the changeover averaged between 4 and 6 inches in Morris, Sussex and Warren Counties and 2 to 4 inches throughout the rest of the state, except along the coast. In Cape May County and along coastal areas, accumulations were around an inch. In upper sections of Hunterdon and Somerset Counties as well as northwest New Jersey between two-tenths and four-tenths of an inch of ice (freezing rain) accrued on exposed surfaces. Most schools in northwest New Jersey dismissed the children early, several never opened. The snow and ice led to numerous accidents, some fatal and some of the worst of the winter season. Police in northwest New Jersey were advising people to postpone unnecessary driving. In Atlantic County, a 20-year-old Egg Harbor Township woman died after her vehicle skidded out of control. In Mercer County, another fatal accident occurred on U.S. Route 1 in Lawrence. In Princeton, a 41-year-old man was injured when he lost control of his Land Rover on U.S. Route 206, crashed through a concrete wall and the vehicle fell fifteen feet. The roadway was closed for about an hour. In Ewing and West Windsor Townships alone, about 40 accidents occurred. In Burlington County, there were 15 accidents in Medford Township alone. In Cumberland County, eleven people escaped serious injury when the van they were riding overturned on New Jersey State Route 55 in Vineland. About 30 other accidents occurred within the county. State Police in Woodstown (Salem County) responded to 20 accidents. In Warren County, westbound Interstate 78 was backed up for a mile after a van collided with a tractor trailer at 1210 p.m. EST. In Morris County, several vehicles became stuck on New Jersey State Route 15 in Jefferson Township. Conectiv Energy had to dispatch crews to replace twenty poles that were knocked down by motorists.Accumulations included 6 inches in Montague and High Point (Sussex County), 5 inches in Jefferson Township (Morris County) and Wantage (Sussex County), 4 inches in Stanhope (Sussex County), Hackettstown (Warren County), White House Station (Hunterdon County), Rockaway (Morris County), and Neshanic (Somerset County), 3.9 inches in Califon (Hunterdon County), 3.5 inches in Hillsborough (Somerset County) and Trenton and Princeton (Mercer County), 3 inches in Atco (Camden County), Bordentown (Burlington County), Verga (Gloucester County) and Seabrook (Cumberland County), 2.8 inches in Estell Manor (Atlantic County) and Cherry Hill (Camden County), 2.5 inches in Milltown (Middlesex County) and Freehold (Monmouth County), 1.5 inches in Toms River (Ocean County), and 1 inch in Margate (Atlantic County) and Ocean City (Cape May County). The cause of the wintry weather were a pair of low pressure systems that developed in the Southern Plains during the day on the 17th. By Friday morning the 18th, one low was in the central Ohio Valley, the other near Springfield, Missouri. A large high pressure system moved across the northern Middle Atlantic States and New England on the 17th and 18th and supplied a fresh supply of cold air. The lows' storm track passed them across the extreme southeast part of New Jersey during the night of the 18th and the morning of the 19th. The proximity of these lows and the counterclockwise circulations around them from the nearby Atlantic Ocean were enough to raise temperatures above the freezing mark in central and southern New Jersey. But on a relative basis, these low pressure systems were weak. While warmer air was able to move in aloft; the surface winds were not strong enough to either mix the warm air down or bring it into northwest New Jersey from the warmer Atlantic Ocean. The two low pressure systems also prolonged the precipitation event and it lasted around 24 hours.