Sleet, Sussex
- When
- January 19, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Sussex forecast zone
- Reported by
- AWOS,ASOS,MESONET,ETC
- Coordinates
- 41.140, -74.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Sleet in New Jersey, January 19, 2001
A pair of low pressure systems that moved from the Gulf of Mexico northeast off the Middle Atlantic coast gave northwest New Jersey a couple of days of mixed precipitation and culminated with heavy snow the night of the 20th. The first shot of precipitation began moving across the region during the morning of the 19th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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
- 1
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 pair of low pressure systems that moved from the Gulf of Mexico northeast off the Middle Atlantic coast gave northwest New Jersey a couple of days of mixed precipitation and culminated with heavy snow the night of the 20th. The first shot of precipitation began moving across the region during the morning of the 19th. Precipitation started as freezing rain during the predawn hours and changed over to snow around sunrise. As warmer air moved in, precipitation changed back to freezing rain and then plain rain later in the morning. Snowfall accumulations averaged between one and two inches with total water equivalents of about one quarter of an inch prior to the change to rain. Untreated roadways were treacherous.
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 Jan 19, 4:00 AM EST, 1 hour earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 19, 4:00 AM EST, 1 hour before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
400 AM EST FRI JAN 19 2001
THE PRECIP HAS OVERSPREAD THE FORECAST AREA QUITE RAPIDLY DURING THE
PAST COUPLE OF HOURS. WE/LL CONTINUE WITH THE IDEA OF A COLD RAIN
EVENT FOR TODAY...KEEPING THE MENTION OF FREEZING RAIN THIS MORNING
IN THE POCONOS...THE LEHIGH VALLEY AND NORTHWEST NEW JERSEY. WE/LL
ALSO ALLOW FOR A LITTLE SLEET AND SNOW TO MIX IN AT ANY TIME TODAY
IN OUR THREE NORTHERNMOST COUNTIES.
THE COLD AIR SHOULD BEGIN TO WEDGE ITS WAY BACK TO THE SOUTH TONIGHT.
FOR OUR THREE NORTHERN COUNTIES THE CHANGE TO SLEET AND SNOW SHOULD
TAKE PLACE IN THE EARLY EVENING. READING...ALLENTOWN AND MORRISTOWN
ARE EXPECTED TO CHANGE OVER DURING THE EVENING. THE WEDGE OF
FREEZING AIR WILL LIKELY BE KNOCKING AT PHL/S DOOR BY DAYBREAK ON
SATURDAY.
WITH THE ABOVE IN MIND...WE/LL POST ADVISORIES FOR AREAS TO THE
NORTH OF PHL FOR TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY. ALSO...WE/LL MAINTAIN THE
ADVISORY FOR THIS MORNING WHERE IT IS PRESENTLY IN PLACE TO COVER
THE FREEZING RAIN. WE WILL NOT ISSUE ANYTHING AS OF YET FOR PHL AND
POINTS TO THE SOUTH AND EAST.
FOR SATURDAY...THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST AREA SHOULD GO OVER TO
FROZEN PRECIP. HOWEVER...THE PRECIP MAY CUT OFF IN OUR FAR SOUTHERN
ZONES SHORTLY AFTER THE CHANGE...SO THERE MAY NOT BE MUCH OF A
PROBLEM THERE.
AS FAR AS THE QUESTION OF HEAVY RAIN IS CONCERNED...OUR THINKING IS
AROUND AN INCH LIQUID...PERHAPS AND INCH AND A HALF...ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN PART OF OUR FORECAST AREA DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS.
WITH THE UPPER LOW EXPECTED TO PASS ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PART OF OUR
FORECAST AREA LATE SATURDAY NIGHT...WE/LL INCLUDE THE LIKELIHOOD OF
LINGERING SNOW SHOWERS AT THAT TIME. THEN...AS THE SYSTEM PULLS OFF
OF THE COAST ON SUNDAY...DRY AIR SHOULD QUICKLY BUILD IN BEHIND IT.
IN THE MARINE FORECAST...THERE WILL BE A MENTION OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY BEGINNING LATE TONIGHT NORTH OF LITTLE EGG
INLET AND ON SATURDAY FOR THE SOUTHERN PART OF OUR MARINE AREA AND
FOR LOWER DELAWARE BAY.
THE ZONE FORECASTS WILL BE ISSUED AT 430.
.PHI...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THIS MORNING AND AGAIN FOR
TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY FOR THE POCONOS AND THE LEHIGH VALLEY
IN PA...AND FOR NORTHWEST NJ. (PA ZONES 54/55/61/62 AND NJ
ZONES 1/7/8).
WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY FOR BERKS
COUNTY AND oPHL/S NORTHWEST SUBURBS...AND FOR CENTRAL NJ (PA
ZONES 60/67/68/69 AND NJ ZONES 9/10/12/15).
IOVINOThe radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 sleet. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Sleet
- Sleet accumulating half an inch or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Flood in Georgia, January 19, 2001
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Alabama, January 19, 2001
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Georgia, January 19, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Alabama, January 19, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, January 19, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, January 19, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Mississippi, January 19, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, January 19, 2001
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, January 19, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, January 19, 2001
- Strong Wind in South Carolina, January 19, 2001
- Heavy Snow in Ohio, January 19 to 20, 2001
More
Every storm in New Jersey in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, January 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: 5227833.