Ice Storm and Winter Weather in New Jersey, January 8, 2005

An ice storm affected the higher terrain of northwestern New Jersey on the 8th. Some freezing rain fell as far south as Hunterdon County. Unlike the previous event, precipitation fell as either plain rain or freezing rain. There was no sleet or snow. Precipitation type was elevation dependent as plain rain fell in the valleys, but fell as freezing rain over the higher terrain. Ice accretions averaged between one-quarter to half an inch with the highest accretions in northwestern Sussex County. Precipitation began a little after Midnight EST on the 8th and ended around Noon EST. Prior to dawn, temperatures in the higher terrain were below freezing. They rose above freezing during the morning as precipitation was ending. It took until late in the morning of the 10th for temperatures to rise above freezing in the higher terrain of northwestern New Jersey. Around one-quarter of an inch of additional ice accrued on higher terrain locations in Warren and Morris Counties and up to around half an inch of additional ice accrued on exposed surfaces in Sussex County. The ice caused additional outages in northwestern New Jersey as more trees and tree limbs were knocked down. The greatest number of new outages occurred in Hope, Blairstown and Independence Townships. The ice storm was caused by a low pressure system that developed in the western Gulf of Mexico on the morning of the 7th. It moved northeast and reached near Pittsburgh on the morning of the 8th. Unlike the previous storm, the high pressure system was not in a favorable location for ice as it was located over the New England coastal waters on the morning of the 8th. But the previous ice storm left an environment (plenty of snow and ice) which made it difficult for the cold air near the surface to be scoured. In fact the primary low pressure system weakened as it moved into Lake Ontario and a secondary low pressure system formed along the Delaware Coast during the afternoon of the 8th. This secondary low helped keep a northeast flow throughout the event.