Winter Weather in New Jersey, January 12, 2015

Name: Winter Weather in New Jersey, January 12, 2015
Start: 2015-01-12T00:00
End: 2015-01-12T12:00
Location: New Jersey

January 12, 2015 · NWS PHI · 9 events in 9 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 9 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: 9

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.

A wintry mix of precipitation, primarily freezing rain, affected parts of southwest and nearly all of the northern half of New Jersey during the first half of the day on the 12th. Snow and sleet accumulations were only a couple of tenths of an inch and mainly over the higher terrain, while ice accumulations reached as high as around one tenth of an inch. Because most of the wintry precipitation fell at night on the heels of an unseasonably cold air mass, untreated roadways and walkways were hazardous. Most of the main thoroughfares were treated and the relative number of accidents was low. New Jersey Transit cross-honored tickets on rail and bus lines throughout the day. Schools in Somerset, Warren, Sussex and Morris Counties had two hour delayed openings.

Precipitation overspread the region from south to north between Midnight EST and 5 a.m. EST on the 12th. It started as a snow and sleet mixture in northwest New Jersey and as a mixture of rain, freezing rain and sleet elsewhere. Precipitation in all areas was falling mainly as freezing rain during the morning commute and then transitioned to plain rain between 9 a.m. EST and Noon EST on the 12th from south to north. The rain ended during the afternoon of the 12th.

Snow accumulations included 0.3 of an inch in Montague (Sussex County) and 0.1 of an inch in Rockaway (Morris County) and Hackettstown (Warren County). Ice accumulations included 0.15 inches in Wantage (Sussex County), 0.10 inches in South Plainfield (Middlesex County) and 0.05 inches in Three Bridges (Hunterdon County).

The wintry mix of precipitation was caused by the combination of a low pressure system that moved northeast from the Tennessee Valley and an approaching cold front from the Great Lakes. A retreating arctic air mass left enough cold air in place for precipitation to fall as a wintry mix until it was eroded during the morning of the 12th. Precipitation ended as the cold front approached New Jersey that 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 Jan 11, 6:56 PM EST, 5 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 11, 6:56 PM EST, 5 hours 4 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 11, 3:55 PM EST, 8 hours 5 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

9 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Camden

When: January 12, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Camden forecast zone
Reported by: State Official
Coordinates: 39.804, -74.960 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Northwestern Burlington

When: January 12, 12:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Northwestern Burlington forecast zone
Reported by: NWS Employee
Coordinates: 39.878, -74.668 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Mercer

When: January 12, 1:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Mercer forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.283, -74.702 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Somerset

When: January 12, 1:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Somerset forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.564, -74.616 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Hunterdon

When: January 12, 1:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Hunterdon forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.567, -74.912 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Middlesex

When: January 12, 2:00 AM EST to 9:00 AM EST
Where: Middlesex forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.440, -74.409 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Warren

When: January 12, 2:00 AM EST to 11:00 AM EST
Where: Warren forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 40.857, -74.997 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Winter Weather, Morris

When: January 12, 2:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM 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: January 12, 3:00 AM EST to 12:00 PM EST
Where: Sussex forecast zone
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 41.140, -74.690 (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

Every storm in New Jersey in 2015 Every state in 2015 This day in weather history Warnings in New Jersey, January 2015

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: 553631, 553632, 553633, 553637, 553638, 553636, 553639, 553641, 553642.