The Dexes / Winter Storm, Blizzard & Heavy Snow / 5603509
Eventdex · Winter Storm, Blizzard & Heavy Snow
SUSSEX
5603509
The record
Everything the slot carries, as measured. Series arrays are drawn above and listed here in full.
| Event typeevent_type | Heavy Snow |
|---|---|
| NOAA NCEI event IDncei_event_id | 5,603,509 |
| Episode IDepisode_id | 2,064,798 |
| Begin UTCbegin_utc | 1997-04-01T05:00:00+00:00 |
| End UTCend_utc | 1997-04-01T10:00:00+00:00 |
| Statestate | NEW JERSEY |
| County/zone typecz_type | Z |
| County/zone namecz_name | SUSSEX |
| Deaths directdeaths_direct | 0 |
| Deaths indirectdeaths_indirect | 0 |
| Injuries directinjuries_direct | 0 |
| Injuries indirectinjuries_indirect | 0 |
| Episode narrativeepisode_narrative | A late season snowstorm dropped some of the heaviest snow of all winter across New Jersey from the morning of March 31st into the morning of April 1st. The low pressure system responsible for this looked rather innocuous on March 30th as it moved with its associated cold front through the Midwest. Temperatures that day (Easter Sunday) warmed into the 50s and 60s across the area. But as the low intensified off the New Jersey Coast on the 31st, it pulled down colder air. The heavy precipitation it created also cooled the atmosphere and changed the rain over to snow. The rain changed to snow close to dawn across extreme Northwest New Jersey. The changeover progressed southeast reaching the rest of Northwest New Jersey around 9 a.m. EST and the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area close to noon EST. Bands of heavier snow moved through the Middle Atlantic States and caused wide variations in accumulations that were both location (underneath these bands) and elevation dependent. A pocket of warm air associated with the low pressure system itself kept precipitation as rain longer across East Central New Jersey and held accumulations down.Sussex and Warren Counties along with the northwest part of Morris County were hit the hardest. A limited state of emergency was declared in Sussex County. Shelters were opened in 12 municipalities. Vernon Township within Sussex County declared a state of emergency that banned all driving. The combination of heavy wet snow, up to around two feet in some areas, and strong winds produced numerous power outages. GPU reported 75,000 homes lost power in Morris, Sussex and Warren Counties with the majority in Sussex County. Full power was not restored in all areas until April 3rd. Trees were described as being "down all over the place". Downed trees also closed most of the major roadways in Sussex County including New Jersey State Routes 15 and 23 (closed through April. 1st) and County Roads 515 and 517. Accumulations in Sussex and Warren Counties included 26 inches at High Point, 22 inches in Wantage, 19 inches in Sussex, 18 inches in Hackettstown, 17 inches in Sparta, 15 inches in Montague and 14 inches in Washington. In Morris County, the differences of location and elevation came to play with this storm. Only 2 inches of snow accumulated in Morristown in the southeast part of the county, while 24 inches accumulated in Jefferson Township at the northwest end of the county. During the storm U.S. Route 46 was described as a parking lot. Heavy wet snow downed trees and at least damaged one home within Kinnelon Borough. Strong gusty winds and the heavy wet snow continued to cause problems on April 1st even after the snow ended as downed trees closed U.S. Route 46 and New Jersey State Route 24 for several hours. Other accumulations within the county included 15 inches in Long Valley, Mount Arlington and Mount Olive and 14 inches in Rockaway.In West Central New Jersey, accumulations were generally less. But several bands of heavier snow brought season high accumulations to sections of Hunterdon, Somerset, Mercer and Burlington Counties. While there were less road closures, the combination of wind and heavy wet snow did cause an additional 34,000 homes and businesses within Public Service Electric and Gas's service area to lose power. About 25,000 of the outages were centered in Princeton and nearby communities. All power was restored by the evening of the 1st. In Princeton Township, about two dozen downed trees forced the closure of 10 roadways. In Princeton Borough, one tree fell and crushed a porch. There were about twenty reports of downed trees and limbs that forced three road closures. In Somerset County, Bernardsville was hit the hardest with up to 30 trees down that forced 6 road closures. Accumulations included 18 inches in Califon (Hunterdon County), 10 inches in Willingboro (Burlington County), 9 inches in Pottersville (Somerset County), 8 inches in Wertsville (Hunterdon County), Somerville (Somerset County) and Mercerville (Mercer County) and 6 inches in Mount Holly (Burlington County).In the rest of the state, accumulations were less as more precipitation fell as rain. They averaged around 5 inches in Camden, Gloucester and Salem Counties, ranged between 3 and 6 inches in Western Atlantic and Cumberland Counties, and averaged around 3 inches in Middlesex, Monmouth and Western Ocean Counties. Little if any snow accumulated from Coastal Ocean County southward. But, wind gusts were stronger near the New Jersey Shore and power outages due to downed trees increased again. Downed trees and limbs caused power outages in Monmouth and Ocean Counties in Howell Township, Lacey Township, Lakewood Township, Millstone Township, Tinton Falls and Wall Township. Peak wind gusts included 71 mph in Harvey Cedars (Ocean County), 64 mph in North Wildwood (Cape May County), 60 mph in Seaside Park (Ocean County) and 58 mph aboard the Cape May/Lewes Ferry. The strong winds forced a reduction in the number of departures by the ferry across Delaware Bay. |
| Yearyear | 1,997 |
Provenance
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Storage: spine