Heavy Snow, Western Passaic
- When
- February 5, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Western Passaic forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.034, -74.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in New Jersey, February 5, 2001
On Monday February 5th, a developing low pressure system off the North Carolina coast moved northeast to a position off eastern Long Island by Monday evening. The storm then moved off the New England coast by early Tuesday.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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
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 OKX wrote it up.
On Monday February 5th, a developing low pressure system off the North Carolina coast moved northeast to a position off eastern Long Island by Monday evening. The storm then moved off the New England coast by early Tuesday. The storm spread a swath of rain and wet snow across northern New Jersey during early Monday. As the low rapidly intensified, colder air was entrained into the storm system. This changed any rain into heavy wet snow by early Monday afternoon across northern New Jersey. The snow continued into the early evening hours, before tapering off from west to east.Due to the wet nature of the snow, and the rapid rate at which it fell, numerous power outages resulted from fallen tree limbs on power lines. In addition, hazardous travel resulted across much of northern New Jersey for the Monday evening commute, which led to numerous traffic accidents. Here are some specific snowfall totals for this snow event:For Passaic County: 6.5 inches at Wayne, to 18.1 inches at West Milford.For Bergen County: 5.8 inches at Fairlawn, to 8 inches at Midland Park.For Essex County: 6 inches at Newark International Airport and Nutley, to 10 inches at Livingston.For Union County: 3.5 inches at Cranford, to 8 inches at Mountainside (at an elevation of 700 feet).For Hudson County: 4 inches at Harrison, to 5 inches at Secaucus and Jersey City.
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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 5, 12:29 PM EST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 5, 12:29 PM EST, 1 hour 31 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY 1229 PM EST MON FEB 5 2001 UPDT FORTHCOMING IN NEXT 10 MIN TO UPGRADE TWIN FORMS OF LI TO WS WRNG. CHG TO SN JUST ABT ENTIRE AREA XCP RIGHT ALG S SHORE LI AND THAT SHUD FINISH UP NEXT HR OR SO. WL BUMP UP AMTS ERN LI TO 4 TO 7 OR SO. SUM REALLY BIG SNOWFLAKES OUT THERE...ALREADY AN INCH PLUS HERE AT KOKX... UPDTD ZFP/RDF/WSW WIBIS ASAP! F.Y.I. KOKX SPECIAL UA RUN IN PROGRESS. T850 ARND -1.0C. MSG AVBL ARND 1800Z OR SO. .OKX... CT...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES CTZ005>012. NJ...WINTER STORM WARNING UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES NJZ002>006-011. NY...WINTER STORM WARNING U NTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES NYZ067>081. .MARINE...GLW ALL WATERS...ANZ330-335-350-353-355-338. REYNOLDS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy Snow, Eastern Passaic
- When
- February 5, 3:00 PM EST
- Where
- Eastern Passaic forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 41.034, -74.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow, Essex
- When
- February 5, 4:00 PM EST
- Where
- Essex forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Union
- When
- February 5, 5:00 PM EST
- Where
- Union forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
Heavy Snow, Bergen
- When
- February 5, 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- Bergen forecast zone
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Winter Storm in Vermont, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Winter Storm in Vermont, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Winter Storm in Vermont, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Winter Storm in Vermont, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Winter Weather in New York, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Winter Storm in New York, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Heavy Snow and High Wind in Massachusetts, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Maine, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Winter Weather in Vermont, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Heavy Snow in New Hampshire, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Winter Storm in Maine, February 5 to 6, 2001
- Heavy Snow and Sleet in New Jersey, February 5, 2001
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: 5233502, 5233504, 5233505, 5233506, 5233503.