New Jersey, 2002

Heavy Snow in New Jersey, January 7, 2002

January 7, 2002 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

While the surface low pressure system that caused the snow on Sunday the 6th was located over Nova Scotia the morning of the 7th, the upper level system that supported the surface low still had to move through Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As it did, light snow developed across the area.

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.

While the surface low pressure system that caused the snow on Sunday the 6th was located over Nova Scotia the morning of the 7th, the upper level system that supported the surface low still had to move through Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As it did, light snow developed across the area. In central and southern New Jersey, temperatures remained above freezing and snow mainly melted as it fell. Up to one inch accumulated on grassy areas. But farther north, where temperatures were colder and the precipitation intensity was heavier, snow accumulated between 1 and 4 inches. Untreated roads became slippery. Accumulations included 3.6 inches in Sparta (Sussex County), 3.5 inches in Hillsborough Township (Somerset County), 2.6 inches in Marcella (Morris County), 2.5 inches in Wantage (Sussex County), 2.0 inches in Rockaway Township (Morris County) and one inch in Chatham (Morris County) and Belle Mead (Somerset County). Accumulations from both days of snow in western Morris, Warren and Sussex Counties reached between 6 and 12 inches.

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, 14 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 4:25 PM EST, 14 hours 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

5 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Hunterdon

When
January 7, 7:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Hunterdon forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.567, -74.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Morris

When
January 7, 7:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Morris forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Somerset

When
January 7, 7:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Somerset forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Sussex

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

Heavy Snow, Warren

When
January 7, 7:00 AM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.857, -74.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5277640, 5277641, 5277642, 5277643, 5277644.