New Jersey, 2002

Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in New Jersey, January 6 to 7, 2002

January 6 to 7, 2002 · NWS PHI · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

A quick hitting winter storm dropped heavy snow across northwestern New Jersey and lesser amounts across Hunterdon and Somerset Counties. Little if any snow or sleet fell farther to the south and east.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 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
4

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 quick hitting winter storm dropped heavy snow across northwestern New Jersey and lesser amounts across Hunterdon and Somerset Counties. Little if any snow or sleet fell farther to the south and east. The event lasted only about six hours, but up to 8.4 inches of snow accumulated over the higher terrain in the northwest part of the state. Precipitation overspread the region in the form of snow during the late afternoon and very early evening on the 6th. As the low pressure system came closer to the region, warmer air moved in and changed precipitation over to sleet and even rain across much of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties. In Warren and Morris Counties, the changeover took longer and lasted for a shorter period of time. Precipitation fell as mainly snow in Sussex County. The low pressure system moved rapidly offshore and precipitation changed back to snow across the entire area before ending around midnight EST. Since this event occurred mainly during Sunday evening, the number of accidents were reduced. The greatest number reported was in Sussex County. The vehicular accidents caused scattered outages in the county. There were delayed school openings on Monday the 7th.Specific accumulations included 8.4 inches in Sparta (Sussex County), 7.7 inches in Marcella (Morris County), 7.5 inches in Hackettstown (Warren County), Stockholm and Hamburg (Sussex County), 7.0 inches in Rockaway and Kenville (Morris County), 6.7 inches in Lebanon Township (Hunterdon County), 6.4 inches in Newton (Sussex County), 5.0 inches in Belvidere (Warren County), 3.3 inches in White House Station (Hunterdon County), 3.0 inches in Chatham (Morris County) and 1.3 inches in Branchburg (Somerset County).The low pressure system responsible for the first winter storm of the season developed near Houston, Texas the morning of the 5th. It moved rapidly northeast and reached the Alabama/Georgia border at 7 a.m. EST on the 6th, was just east of Atlantic City at 7 p.m. EST on the 6th and reached Nova Scotia by the morning of the 7th.

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 6, 4:25 PM EST, 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 4:25 PM EST, 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
425 PM EST SUN JAN 6 2002

AN AVN/ETA BLEND FOR THIS FCST...WITH AVN PREDOMINANT TONIGHT IN WAY
IT LIFTS SFC LOW OFF THE NJ COAST. THEN MORE CREDENCE GIVEN TO ETA
WITH IT/S HANDLING OF UPPER SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED SFC REFLECTION OF
LOW HANGING BACK FOR MUCH OF DAY TMRW OFF OUR COAST. GIVEN QPF FIELDS
AND COORD WITH SURROUNDING OFFICES AND HPC...WE ARE ACCEPTING MODEL
SOUNDINGS THAT SUFFICIENT WARM AIR MAKES IT INTO ERN AND SRN NJ...
SERN PA...DE AND MD TO MAKE ANY SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT EITHER
MINOR OR NON-EXISTENT. IN NWRN NJ...THE POCONOS AND LEHIGH VALLEY
SOUNDINGS SUPPORT SNOW OR MAINLY SNOW FOR TONIGHT...AND THE WINTER
STORM WARNING IS CONTD. IN THE BUFFER ZONE BETWEEN THE TWO
SECTIONS...A MIX IS ANTICIPATED WITH SOME SNOW ACCUM POSSIBLE...ESP
MOVING NW INTO NRN SOMERSET AND HUNTERDON COS IN NJ AND INTO THE
NWRN PORTIONS OF CHESTER...MONTGOMERY AND BUCKS COS IN PA. PCPN
SHOULD TAPER OFF OVERNIGHT...BUT THEN THE UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM LOOKS
LIKE IT COULD KICK OFF SOME ACCUMUALTING -SN OR SNSH TMRW...ESP AS
ONE MOVES N. SYSTEM LIFTS OUT MON NIGHT AND WE END IT EARLY IN THE
THIRD PD. GUIDANCE TEMPS THIS RUN HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED...AND WHERE
THEY DIVERGE WE HAVE USED CONTINUITY AND A COMPROMISE.

DE...NONE.
MD...NONE.
NJ...WINTER STORM WARNING TNGT AND TMRW FOR NJ1/7/8.
     WINTER WX ADVISORY TNGT AND TMRW FOR NJ9/10
PA...WINTER STORM WARNING TNGT AND TMRW FOR PA54/55/60/61/62.
     WINTER WX ADVISORY TNGT AND TMRW FOR PA67/68/69.
.MARINE...SCA COAST AND DE BAY.

MPD

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 winter storm, 1 sleet, 1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Sleet, Somerset

When
January 6, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where
Somerset forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Morris

When
January 6, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where
Morris forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Warren

When
January 6, 5:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.857, -74.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Sussex

When
January 6, 6:00 PM EST to January 7, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Sussex forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
41.140, -74.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

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

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, January 2002

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: 5277493, 5277494, 5277495, 5277496.