Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, December 14 to 15, 2003

Name: Winter Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, December 14 to 15, 2003
Start: 2003-12-14T06:00
End: 2003-12-15T03:00
Location: New Jersey

December 14 to 15, 2003 · NWS PHI · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

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

Open the live radar over this ground

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.

The combination of a high pressure system over nearby New England and a low pressure system moving northeast along the Eastern Seaboard produced a wintry mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain in New Jersey. While precipitation changed to plain rain by early afternoon in southern New Jersey and late afternoon in the Raritan Basin, the cold air could not be scoured from Northwest New Jersey. This caused between a quarter of an inch and half an inch of ice to accrue. Hazardous driving conditions and scattered power outages resulted. Precipitation began as snow across the region around daybreak. As warmer air moved in aloft from the southeast and south, the snow changed to plain rain along the coastal plain. Farther inland, precipitation changed to freezing rain. This change spread north to the Raritan Valley by 3 p.m. EST and throughout Northwest New Jersey by 7 p.m. EST. The change to plain rain occurred in the Raritan Valley around 4 p.m. EST, but struggled through the evening to move through Warren and Morris Counties and never reached Sussex County. Snow accumulations averaged 2 to 6 inches in the northern half of the state. Accumulations in the southern half of the state were less than two inches. Precipitation started as plain rain near the coast. Ice accretions ranged from around one-tenth of an inch in the Raritan Valley to half an inch in Sussex County. Numerous accidents were reported. Power outages were mainly restricted to Sussex County. About 2,100 homes and businesses lost power in the county with Hopatcong Borough hardest hit. Road closures and power outages because of downed poles lasted through the afternoon of the 15th in the borough. Schools were either closed or had delayed openings in the county on the 15th. Specific accumulations included 7.0 inches in Boonton (Morris County), 5.5 inches in Chatham (Morris County), 5.0 inches in Wantage (Sussex County), 4.5 inches in Butler (Morris County), 4.0 inches in Newton (Sussex County), Belvidere (Warren County) and Newton (Sussex County), 3.8 inches in New Brunswick (Middlesex County), 3.5 inches in Hackettstown (Warren County), 3.0 inches in Metuchen (Middlesex County), Belle Mead (Somerset County) and Long Valley (Morris County), 1.8 inches in Ewing (Mercer County), 1.4 inches in Mount Holly (Burlington County), 1.2 inches in Somerdale (Camden County) and 1.0 inch in Freehold (Monmouth County). The low pressure system responsible for the winter storm went from near Mobile, Alabama at 7 p.m. EST on the 13th, northeast to just east of Wilmington, North Carolina at 7 a.m. EST on the 14th, near Norfolk at 1 p.m. EST on the 14th, in the lower Chesapeake Bay at 4 p.m. EST, in Delaware Bay at 7 p.m. EST on the 14th, near Hammonton, New Jersey at 10 p.m. EST on the 14th and just south of Jones Beach, New York at 1 a.m. EST on the 15th. The high pressure system that locked in the cold air near the surface retreated from Maine at 7 a.m. EST on the 14th to Nova Scotia at 7 p.m. EST on the 14th.

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 Dec 14, 5:50 AM EST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 14, 5:50 AM EST, 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
548 AM EST SUN DEC 14 2003

NO CHANGES TO THE WARNING AREA. SUSSEX AND CAPE MAY COUNTIES WERE
REMOVED FROM THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY. A FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN
ISSUED FOR THE AREA AROUND THE I95 CORRIDOR.

THE MODELS HAVE COME TOGETHER ON THE PATH OF THIS SYSTEM AND THE MID
LVL PATTERN...AND THE SOUNDINGS HAVE COME CLOSER TOGETHER WITH THE
COLDER GFS NOW SUPPORTING A CHANGEOVER TO RAIN AS FAR NORTHWEST AS
THE LEHIGH VALLEY. GIVEN THE POSITION OF THE SURFACE HIGH...THIS WAS
A CONSIDERATION THAT LED US TO UNDERCUT GFS SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS
OVER THE COASTAL PLAIN IN PREVIOUS FORECASTS. NOW WE WILL DROP
PRETTY MUCH ALL MENTION OF SNOW OVER THE FAR SRN ZONES AND
MARGINALIZE IT NEXT TIER UP. CONCERN...HOWEVER...IS WHETHER PCPN
WILL GO TO ZR WHEN IT FALLS AS LIQUID OVER THAT NEXT TIER. MIV IS
PRESENTLY 33/22 WITH RAIN ALREADY FALLING OVER GED. WE THEREFORE DID
NOT DROP THE ADVISORY OVER MOST OF THE DELMARVA AND SERN NJ AWAY
FROM THE I95 CORRIDOR...AND WE MENTIONED THE POSSIBILITY OF A LTL
ICE ACCRUAL.

MOVING TO THE I295 CORRIDOR AND BEYOND...THE SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS
WERE NOT CHANGED MUCH...BUT THERE WAS MORE OF AN EMPHASIS ON THE
RAIN OR SLEET. GIVEN THE VERY SATURATED GROUND AND STREAMS NEAR
BANKFUL...THOUGHT IT WAS PRUDENT TO PUT UP A FLOOD WATCH. THAT WAS
EVEN EXTENDED INTO THE SRN TIER OF THE WINTER STORM WARNING. IT MAY
WELL BE THAT ENOUGH SNOW WILL FALL THERE AND THAT SUBSEQUENT RAIN
WILL BE ABSORBED BY IT...BUT IF ENOUGH MELTING OCCURS THE STREAMS IN
THAT TIER JUST BARELY HAVE DROPPED BELOW FLOOD STAGE AND THEY WOULD
GO OVER AGAIN.

WINDS WILL PICK UP GIVEN THE GRADIENT BETWEEN THE LOW...WHICH WILL
MOVE UP CLOSE TO OUR COAST TONIGHT...AND THE HIGH TO THE NORTHEAST.
GALES REMAIN UP...A STATEMENT WILL BE REISSUED REGARDING MINOR TIDAL
FLOODING AND EXPECTED BEACH EROSION. AGAIN...SINCE WE ARE BETWEEN
THE FULL AND NEW MOON WE ARE THINKING THAT THE DEPARTURES...ALTHOUGH
SIGNIFICANT...WILL NOT GENERATE MODERATE TIDAL FLOODING.

.PHI...WINT STM WRNG INTO THIS EVENING PA54-55,60-62,67-69,NJ1,7-10.
       WINT WX TODAY PA70-71 NJ12-13,15-22,27,DE1-2,MD8,12,15,19,20.
       FLOOD WATCH PA67-71,NJ9-10,12-13,15-19,DE1,MD8.
       GALE WRNG CST AND DE BAY.

NYY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 winter storm, 2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Storm, Sussex

When: December 14, 6:00 AM EST to December 15, 3:00 AM EST
Where: Sussex forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.140, -74.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Warren

When: December 14, 6:00 AM EST to December 15, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Warren forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.857, -74.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Storm, Morris

When: December 14, 7:00 AM EST to December 15, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Morris forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Hunterdon

When: December 14, 7:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Hunterdon forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.567, -74.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Somerset

When: December 14, 7:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Somerset forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Winter Storm: A storm that brought snow, sleet or freezing rain at warning levels, usually over several hours or days.
Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Jersey in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, December 2003

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: 5327640, 5327641, 5327639, 5327642, 5327643.