Winter Weather in New Jersey, January 17 to 18, 2004

A low pressure system from the southern plains combined with a cold front from the upper Mississippi Valley to bring a wintry mix of precipitation across central and southern New Jersey during the evening and overnight on the 17th. Precipitation began as snow across the region and started mixing with sleet from south to north around Midnight EST. As more warmer air moved in aloft, precipitation started mixing with and changing to freezing rain between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. EST on the 18th. Warmer air also moved in near the surface and the freezing rain changed to plain rain between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. EST. The change happened the quickest along the immediate coast and took the longest in interior central New Jersey. Snowfall accumulations were around one inch in central New Jersey and less than one inch in southern New Jersey. Ice accretions were generally less than one-tenth of an inch. Untreated roads became very hazardous and slippery, especially since the recent weather was unseasonably cold. The low pressure system responsible for the wintry mix moved from the Oklahoma/Texas border on the morning of the 17th, into the Tennessee Valley the morning of the 18th and east of Long Island during the late afternoon of the 18th. The low pressure system combined with a cold front that moved from the Upper Mississippi Valley the morning of the 17th east through New Jersey during the afternoon of the 18th to wring moisture from the atmosphere onto the region.