Heavy Snow in New Jersey, December 9, 2005

Name: Heavy Snow in New Jersey, December 9, 2005
Start: 2005-12-09T07:00
End: 2005-12-09T09:00
Location: New Jersey

December 9, 2005 · NWS OKX · 6 events in 6 counties and zones

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: 6

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 OKX wrote it up.

A vigorous upper level disturbance tracked across the Great Lakes during the evening hours of December 8th with snows breaking out across the area during the early morning hours on the 9th. A secondary low developed off the Mid Atlantic coast and was located near the northern Delmarva region at 7 am. The snow was the heaviest through mid morning and ended by early afternoon. The low rapidly deepened as it tracked to the northeast of the area.Snowfall amounts ranged from 6 to 9.5 inches...the highest amount falling at Ringwood in Passaic County.Selected snowfall amounts include:6.0 inches at Newark International Airport6.1 inches at Harrison and 6.4 inches at Cranford8.0 inches at Ridgewood

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 New York, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 9, 6:35 AM EST, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 9, 6:35 AM EST, 25 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 8, 5:16 PM EST, 13 hours 44 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 9, 4:50 AM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE UPTON NY
450 AM EST FRI DEC 9 2005

CTZ010>012-NYZ077>081-092100-
SOUTHERN NEW HAVEN-SOUTHERN MIDDLESEX-SOUTHERN NEW LONDON-NASSAU-
NORTHWESTERN SUFFOLK-NORTHEASTERN SUFFOLK-SOUTHWESTERN SUFFOLK-
SOUTHEASTERN SUFFOLK-
450 AM EST FRI DEC 9 2005

...WINTRY WEATHER EXPECTED TODAY...

.AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE MID ATLANTIC COAST
THIS MORNING...AND THEN RAPIDLY INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST.
THIS COASTAL LOW IS FORECAST TO TRACK JUST SOUTHEAST OF MONTAUK
POINT EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN  RACE PAST CAPE COD AND THE
ISLANDS THIS AFTERNOON BEFORE REACHING NOVA SCOTIA THIS EVENING.
WITH COLD AIR SETTLED ACROSS THE TRI-STATE REGION AND ABUNDANT
MOISTURE MOVING IN...SOME WINTRY WEATHER WILL DEVELOP THIS MORNING.

SNOW WILL SLOWLY OVERSPREAD THE REGION AROUND OR SHORTLY BEFORE
DAYBREAK THIS MORNING. THE SNOW WILL START TO INTENSIFY SHORTLY
AFTER THEREAFTER...BUT WILL SOON MIX WITH THEN CHANGE TO ALL RAIN
DURING THE MORNING AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB. AS COLDER AIR FILTERS BACK
IN LATER IN THE DAY...THE RAIN MAY CHANGE BACK TO SNOW AS IT TAPERS
OFF. TOTAL SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED TO RANGE BETWEEN 1 AND POSSIBLY 3
INCHES...BEFORE THE MID MORNING CHANGEOVER TO RAIN. THIS MORNINGS
COMMUTE MAY BE HAZARDOUS...AS THE PRECIPITATION TYPE WILL STILL BE
SNOW...AND UNTREATED SURFACES WILL BE WHITE.

WINDS WILL ALSO BECOME AN ISSUE AS THE DAY PROGRESSES AS THE COASTAL
STORM WILL RAPIDLY INTENSIFY. AS THE STORM PUSHES EAST OF THE REGION
THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WILL TIGHTEN BETWEEN THE DEPARTING STORM AND
HIGH PRESSURE APPROACHING FROM THE WEST. AS A RESULT...NORTHWEST
WINDS WILL INCREASE TO 20 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH THIS
AFTERNOON. THE WINDS WILL REMAIN STRONG AND GUSTY INTO THIS
EVENING...BEFORE STARTING TO DECREASE LATE THIS EVENING AND
OVERNIGHT.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Western Passaic

When: December 9, 7:00 AM EST
Where: Western Passaic forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.034, -74.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Eastern Passaic

When: December 9, 8:52 AM EST
Where: Eastern Passaic forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 41.034, -74.300 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Essex

When: December 9, 8:52 AM EST
Where: Essex forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Bergen

When: December 9, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Bergen forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

Heavy Snow, Hudson

When: December 9, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Hudson forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 40.731, -74.076 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Heavy Snow, Union

When: December 9, 9:00 AM EST
Where: Union forecast zone
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER

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

Every storm in New Jersey in 2005 Every state in 2005 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, December 2005

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: 5482757, 5482759, 5482760, 5482758, 5482761, 5482762.