Fourth Winter Storm in Nine Days Affects New Jersey

Although the official start of winter is not for another week, Old Man Winter is already off to a fast start with four storms hitting the area in the past nine days.  Three have been of the wintry variety with increasing snowfall totals with each storm.  On Friday, December 6th, there was the first storm.  It was the only rainmaker of the group, and the rainfall was mostly light to moderate during the morning and afternoon hours, but by the time evening rolled around the rain picked up.  Heavier rain began to fall, and combined with the falling temperatures, conditions were downright frigid if you happened to be outdoors.

I so happened to be one of those people outside during the storm’s peak in the evening.  I was at the North Jersey Section 2 Group III football championship at Kean University.  The temperatures weren’t too cold, and there was not a lot of wind, but when you added the rain, which got me along with many others at the game soaked, the cold just would eat into your feet and hands.  The storm brought about an inch of rain to GWC in South Plainfield.  The high temperature was 61 degrees on the 6th while the low was just 38.  Peak wind gust was only 11 miles per hour.

In the wake of the first storm, temperatures began to fall drastically.  On Saturday, the 7th, the high temperature only reached 41 degrees for a high after a low of 30 degrees overnight.  During the day on Saturday, I managed to get some time off work, and traveled out to The College of New Jersey to see some more high school football championships.  Conditions were comfortable during the afternoon, but when the sun set over the stadium at TCNJ, and the wind began to pick up, temperatures became more frigid.  You really had to find ways to keep warm.  On Sunday, December 8th, temperatures continued to plummet, and as a result, we had our first snow of the season at GWC.

The high temperature only reached 33 degrees after a low of 27 early in the morning on Sunday.  Flurries began to fly around 1:00 PM, but didn’t really pick up in intensity until about nightfall.  Only about an inch or two fell over most of the Garden State.  However, further south near Philadelphia and the Delaware Memorial Bridge in Carneys Point, snowfall fell at a much more rapid and heavier rate.  The National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly responded by issuing a Winter Storm Warning for much of South Jersey.  Those areas received anywhere from 5 to 10 inches.  The Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions played through the snow, and looking at some of the highlights from that game, it looked like white out conditions there.

On Sunday evening, I headed over to Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway after work to catch one more high school football championship.  I walked a good ways from where I parked to the stadium.  During that time, the snow stopped, and temperatures appeared to have warmed slightly.  Local media outlets indicated that there had been a lull in the action.  Conditions stayed that way for much of the football game until the middle of the third quarter when the wind began to pick up, and temperatures began to drop again.  Flurries started to fly again, and picked up in intensity after the game ended, and as I was heading back to my car for the trip home.  Ice had also fallen, which made driving a bit treacherous.  Final snowfall amounts ranged between 1 to 2 inches.

Moving on to Monday, temperatures warmed slightly with a high of 37 after a low of 30.  Conditions were mostly tranquil.  No snow or rain, but that would change by Tuesday with the third storm in five days.  Winter Storm Dion as it was called by the Weather Channel, had a much bigger impact than its predecessor, Cleon.  Snow began falling at daybreak, and picked up in intensity by the mid to late morning.  The snow was heavy and wet, and the flakes were quite large.  The snow did finally taper off by mid-afternoon, and the sun was back out before setting at around 4:30 PM.  Final snowfall totals were just between 2 to 4 inches.  High temperature on Tuesday at GWC was 34 after a low of 23 in the early morning.

The next two days, temperatures were much colder.  Average temperatures were only in the mid 20s with lows on Wednesday and Thursday only being 20 and 18 degrees respectively.  Skies were mostly sunny, but it didn’t help ease the freeze.  Winds also were on the increase, which created Wind Chills in the upper teens to low 20s during the day.  On Friday, temperatures bottomed out at 16 degrees at GWC in the morning before climbing up to a high of 34 in the afternoon.  The colder temps set the stage for the latest winter storm, which began to produce snow by the time I headed to work on Saturday morning, the snow has been on the increase since then.

So, there have been four storms in just 9 days, and we haven’t even begun to get into the full winter season yet.  Is this an omen of things to come?  Very possible.  The past two winters have been relatively tranquil compared to the winter of 2010-11.  Temperatures have been their coldest in several years just in the past few weeks.  In addition, there has been more moisture and precipitation since the middle of November after a mostly dry period that began in the middle of August.  Since November 14th, there has been 3.84 inches of rain in South Plainfield.  Looking like it is going to be a long, cold, and snowy winter.