New Jersey, 2001

Winter Storm and Sleet in New Jersey, February 25, 2001

February 25, 2001 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

A cold front moved through New Jersey on the 23rd. A large high pressure system build into the region that night and on the 24th.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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
5

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 cold front moved through New Jersey on the 23rd. A large high pressure system build into the region that night and on the 24th. Meanwhile a rather intense low pressure system was located over the foothills of the Rockies on the morning of the 24th. It moved into the western Great Lakes the morning of the 25th as the high pressure system moved east to the Canadian Maritimes. While the low pressure system was intense, it was located too far west to quickly scour the cold air that was left across most of Northern New Jersey. Precipitation started as sleet and freezing rain. By 6 a.m. EST enough warm air had arrived for the precipitation to change to plain rain in Hunterdon and Somerset Counties with little ice accretion. It took until around 9 a.m. EST to scour the cold air from Warren and Morris Counties where up to one tenth of an inch of ice accrued. The cold air lasted the longest in Sussex County as freezing rain persisted in some of the colder spots until around Noon EST. SKYWARN Spotters reported significant (around three tenths of an inch) accretions of ice in Branchville, Hopatcong, Stockholm and Wantage. Lesser amounts accrued on roadways, but untreated roads and walks were extremely hazardous. Since this event occurred on a Sunday morning, the number of traffic accidents were less than would have occurred if this was a weekday morning.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 24, 3:55 PM EST, 10 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 24, 3:55 PM EST, 10 hours 5 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
355 PM EST SAT FEB 24 2001

EXPANDING WRNGS AND ADVISORIES A BIT FTHR S...AS FRZG QPF LOOKS
HEAVIER IN LEHIGH VALLEY AND NJ 7/8 AND POTENTIAL FOR A BIT OF FRZG
RAIN DOWN THRU PHL.

HAD SOME PROBLEMS WITH RECEIPT OF AVN GUIDANCE AND EXTDD MOS INTO
ICWF AS WELL...BUT MANAGED TO FINISH THINGS...HOPEFULLY.

NXT SYS FOR MIDWEEK LOOKS FASTER...SO BUMPING PCPN AHD A DAY...AND
LEAVING PSBLTY FOR RAIN IN THE SRN ZONES.

NOTHING ON MARINE YET...BUT SML CRAFT SHOULD GO UP THIS EVE OR OVNGT
FOR SUN.

ZONES AND WSW ALREADY SENT.

.PHI...WINT STM WRNG LATE TNGT AND SUN MRNG PA54/55/61/62
       NJ1/7/8. WINT WX ADVY LATE TNGT INTO SUN MRNG PA60/67-71
       NJ9-10/12-13/15-19 DE1 MD8/12.

KRAUS

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 sleet, 1 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Sussex

When
February 25, 2:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where
Sussex forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.140, -74.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Hunterdon

When
February 25, 3:00 AM EST to 6:00 AM EST
Where
Hunterdon forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.567, -74.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Morris

When
February 25, 3:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where
Morris forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Somerset

When
February 25, 3:00 AM EST to 5:00 AM EST
Where
Somerset forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Sleet, Warren

When
February 25, 3:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
Coordinates
40.857, -74.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm
A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
Sleet
Sleet accumulating half an inch or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, February 2001

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5232043, 5232044, 5232045, 5232046, 5232047.