New Jersey, 2003

Winter Weather in New Jersey, February 20 to 21, 2003

February 20 to 21, 2003 · NWS PHI · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Rain with pockets of freezing rain preceded a warm front that moved through Sussex County during the evening and overnight on the 20th. In addition to the freezing rain, sleet was reported.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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
3

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.

Rain with pockets of freezing rain preceded a warm front that moved through Sussex County during the evening and overnight on the 20th. In addition to the freezing rain, sleet was reported. The sleet briefly covered the ground in Lincoln Park (Morris County) during the evening of the 20th. In Sussex County, precipitation fell mainly as rain in the valleys, but temperatures remained below freezing over the higher terrain. Ice accretions were generally less than five hundredths of an inch. Untreated roads and walkways were hazardous.

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 Feb 20, 4:15 PM EST, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 4:15 PM EST, 5 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
415 PM EST THU FEB 20 2003

SKIES SHOULD REMAIN CLEAR FOR THE MOST PART OVERNIGHT.  SOME OF THE
CLOUD MASS PRESENTLY OVER THE TENNESSEE RIVER VALLEY AND THE
SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS MAY BEGIN TO NOSE UP OVER OUR SOUTHERN
COUNTIES TOWARD DAYBREAK.

ON FRIDAY WELL SEE AN INCREASE IN CLOUD COVER AS MOISTURE CONTINUES
TO WORK ITS WAY UP FROM THE SOUTHWEST.  IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER DAY
WITH TEMPERATURES GETTING UP INTO THE 40S.

THE MODELS ARE CONVERGING ON A RELATIVELY WARM SOLUTION FOR THE
UPCOMING PRECIP EVENT.  THE UPPER LOW CURRENTLY OVER THE SOUTHWEST
UNITED STATES WILL REACH TEXAS AND BEGIN TO OPEN UP ON FRIDAY.  THE
RESULTING TROUGH WILL LIFT UP AND PASS OVER OUR REGION ON SUNDAY
MORNING.  THE ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW SHOULD PASS OVER WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA AND WESTERN AND NORTHERN NEW YORK ON SATURDAY NIGHT.

WELL CONTINUE TO MENTION A LITTLE SLEET AND FREEZING RAIN AT THE
ONSET IN THE COUNTIES ALONG AND TO THE NORTH OF INTERSTATE 78.
OTHERWISE, WERE LOOKING AT MAINLY RAIN IN ALL OF OUR COUNTIES,
POSSIBLY ENDING AS SNOW SHOWERS IN THE NORTH ON SUNDAY MORNING.

WEVE ALREADY ISSUED A FLOOD POTENTIAL OUTLOOK.  WERE LOOKING FOR
RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO ONE AND A HALF INCHES IN THE NORTHERN
PART OF OUR FORECAST AREA FOR SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT.  AROUND
PHL PERHAPS WELL SEE AN EVENT TOTAL OF 0.75 TO 1.00 INCH.  WE MAY
SEE ONLY A HALF INCH IN OUR FAR SOUTHEASTERN LOCATIONS.

WITH TEMPS AND DEW POINTS MAINLY IN THE 40S DURING THE EVENT, WE
SHOULD BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE EXPECTED RAINFALL AMOUNTS WITH THE
GREATEST POTENTIAL PROBLEM BEING FLOODING IN AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE
AND ALONG SOME SMALL STREAMS.

.PHI...NONE.

IOVINO
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 20, 4:21 AM EST, 17 hours 39 minutes before
DEZ001>004-MDZ008-012-015-019-020-NJZ001-007>010-012>027-PAZ054-055-
060>062-067>071-201130-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
421 AM EST THU FEB 20 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
PENNSYLVANIA...DELAWARE...THE NORTHERN MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE...AND
NEW JERSEY EXCLUDING THE FIVE NORTHEAST COUNTIES.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

A SIGNIFICANT RAIN EVENT IS EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY
NIGHT. THE SNOW COVER SHOULD BE ABLE TO HOLD A FAIR AMOUNT OF
WATER...BUT THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING WILL INCREASE AS TEMPERATURES
RISE AND RAINFALL AMOUNTS INCREASE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION  MAY BECOME NECESSARY SATURDAY IF THE FLOOD
POTENTIAL INCREASES.

RPW

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 weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Morris

When
February 20, 10:00 PM EST to February 21, 12:00 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, Sussex

When
February 20, 10:00 PM EST to February 21, 4:00 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 Weather, Warren

When
February 20, 10:00 PM EST to February 21, 12:00 AM EST
Where
Warren forecast zone
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
40.857, -74.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

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

More

Every storm in New Jersey in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in New Jersey, February 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: 5328711, 5328712, 5328713.