An elusive record that has remained strong for almost 122 years may have been broken during the monstrous snowstorm that hit New Jersey in the past three days.
The National Weather Service announced Tuesday night that it had received a preliminary report of 35.5 inches of snow on the ground in Mount Arlington, Morris County.
If this report is confirmed, it would reach the state’s long-standing record of 34 inches of snow, which fell during a multi-day blizzard that ran from February 11 to 14 in 1899.
However, the weather service has not yet declared that record, said meteorologist Patrick O’Hara. Even if the agency has no reason to doubt the accuracy of the snowfall report, it still needs to go through a rigorous process to confirm it.
O’Hara said the 35.5-inch snow report on Mount Arlington came from a trained weather observer, someone who probably knows the proper way to measure snow accurately. But to be declared a new state record, it needs to be investigated further.
And it is not a quick process.
“It will go through a lot of scrutiny,” said O’Hara. “It won’t be days, it won’t be weeks. It will probably take months. “
On Monday, after some reports of 30-inch snowfall were received by the National Weather Service, New Jersey state climatologist David Robinson echoed what O’Hara said, saying that all snowfall measurements are considered preliminary until they can be confirmed.
Robinson, whose office at Rutgers University oversees state weather data and records dating back to 1895, said any reports of snowfall for something as significant as a state record would have to undergo a lot of scrutiny under procedures established by the National Information Centers Environmental, formerly known as the National Climatic Data Center.
Robinson said the process involves determining the procedure used by the weather observer who reported measuring snowfall and ensuring that the procedure follows appropriate standards for measuring snow.
It is not something that climate and climate experts take lightly, noted Robinson. That is why the National Weather Service cannot declare the 35.5-inch snowfall report as a record now.
If the measurement holds, it would be among several total blizzards of more than 30 inches that were reported on Monday and Tuesday night – the second and third days of this three-day winter storm.
This map shows the amount of snow that fell in New Jersey and neighboring states on Tuesday morning, February 2.National Meteorological Service
MAIN SNOW REPORTS IN NJ
As of now, these are the highest preliminary snow totals in New Jersey during this monstrous storm:
- 35.5 inches reported in Mount Arlington, Morris County
- 33.2 inches reported in Montague, County Sussex
- 32.0 inches reported in Andover, Sussex County
- 31.3 inches reported in Hope, Warren County
- 31.0 inches reported in Chester, Morris County
- 31.0 inches reported in Oxford, Warren County
- 31.0 inches in Stanhope, Sussex County
- 30.4 inches reported in Chatham, Morris County
- 30.3 inches reported in Sparta, County Sussex
- 30.0 inches reported in Mendham, Morris County
- 30.0 inches reported in Sandyston, Sussex County
Current weather radar
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