Dense Fog in New Jersey, February 21, 2014

Name: Dense Fog in New Jersey, February 21, 2014
Start: 2014-02-21T02:00
End: 2014-02-21T16:00
Location: New Jersey

February 21, 2014 · NWS PHI · 21 events in 21 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 21 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: 1
Injuries: 3
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 21

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 relatively moist air mass, light winds preceding a warm front and snow cover produced widespread dense fog in southern New Jersey during the morning and in northern New Jersey during the morning and afternoon of the 21st. The fog contributed to a fatal traffic three vehicle accident involving a school van in Upper Pittsgrove Township in Salem County. The three vehicles collided near the intersection of U.S. Route 40 and Burlington Road. A tractor-trailer was traveling west on U.S. Route 40 and a school van was traveling east on the road and followed by another vehicle. A fourth vehicle was also traveling east on U.S. Route 40 in front of the school van. The fourth vehicle went to make a left turn onto Burlington Road and the tractor-trailer swerved into the eastbound lane to avoid striking the vehicle and in the process collided with the school van. The school van was then rear-ended by the vehicle following it. The 58-year-old woman driver of the school van was killed. Both the tractor-trailer and the other vehicle's drivers suffered non life threatening injuries as did a 17-year-old boy on the school van. The dense fog lifted and dispersed in the southern part of the state as a warm front moved through, but the northern part of the state was foggy until a cold front moved through the state during the afternoon.

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 21, 1:06 AM EST, 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 1:06 AM EST, 54 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 20, 4:01 PM EST, 9 hours 59 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

21 dense fog. Local standard time, as filed.

Dense Fog, Somerset

When: February 21, 2:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Somerset forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Mercer

When: February 21, 2:00 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
Where: Mercer forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.283, -74.702 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Morris

When: February 21, 2:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Morris forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 40.862, -74.544 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Middlesex

When: February 21, 3:00 AM EST to 1:00 PM EST
Where: Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.440, -74.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Hunterdon

When: February 21, 4:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Hunterdon forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.567, -74.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Warren

When: February 21, 4:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Warren forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.857, -74.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Sussex

When: February 21, 4:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Sussex forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 41.140, -74.690 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Southeastern Burlington

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Southeastern Burlington forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.878, -74.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Western Atlantic

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Western Atlantic forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Western Cape May

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Western Cape May forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Eastern Cape May

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 8:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Cape May forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.085, -74.850 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Eastern Atlantic

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Atlantic forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.469, -74.634 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Western Ocean

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Western Ocean forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Eastern Ocean

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Ocean forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.866, -74.250 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Eastern Monmouth

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Eastern Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Western Monmouth

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Western Monmouth forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS
Coordinates: 40.288, -74.158 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Northwestern Burlington

When: February 21, 5:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Northwestern Burlington forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 39.878, -74.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Salem

When: February 21, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Salem forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Injuries: 0 direct, 3 indirect
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 39.577, -75.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Gloucester

When: February 21, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Gloucester forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.717, -75.142 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Camden

When: February 21, 6:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Camden forecast zone
Reported by: Mesonet
Coordinates: 39.804, -74.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Dense Fog, Cumberland

When: February 21, 6:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Cumberland forecast zone
Reported by: ASOS
Coordinates: 39.328, -75.129 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Dense Fog, Salem	2014-02-21	58	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect

What these are

Dense Fog: Fog reducing visibility to a quarter mile or less, filed where it caused accidents or disruption.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in New Jersey in 2014 Every state in 2014 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, February 2014

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 499681, 499682, 499685, 499680, 499683, 499684, 499686, 499669, 499670, 499672, 499673, 499674, 499676, 499677, 499678, 499679, 499687, 499666, 499667, 499668, 499671.