13 inches fall in Flemington, 10 in Annandale
By: T.J. Furman
What National Weather Service officials are calling the "End of the Millennium Storm" moved through New Jersey yesterday and left the central part of the state with snowfall totals of up to 22 inches.
The first significant snow storm of the 2000-2001 winter season and the area’s biggest since the blizzard of January 1996 dumped approximately 22 inches of snow on Princeton began at around 3 a.m. Saturday morning, according to the NWS in Mount Holly. The snow began tapering off in parts of Central New Jersey in the early afternoon hours, but lingering snow showers lasted well into the night.
A winter storm warning, which was issued Friday afternoon to take effect Saturday, was cancelled at 4:30 p.m. yesterday. There is a chance for some flurries this morning with no appreciable accumulation.
As expected, a low pressure system developed off the coast of North Carolina Friday night and moved northeast, rapidly gaining strength. The storm drew in moisture from the Atlantic Ocean and brought it into the cold air mass that has been settled over the Northeast corner of the United States for more than a week.
Snowfall amounts ranged from 2 inches in the southernmost areas of the state to more than 25 inches near the borders of Passaic, Sussex and Morris counties in the north. In Central Jersey the final accumulation totals ranged from 8 inches in Burlington County to 22 inches in northern Somerset County.
Here is a breakdown of some of the snowfall totals from the NWS (as of 8 p.m. Saturday):
• Basking Ridge, Somerset County, 22 inches
• Bound Brook, Somerset County, 19 inches
• Bridgewater, Somerset County, 18.3 inches
• Milltown, Middlesex County, 17.5 inches
• Metuchen, Middlesex County, 16 inches
• Hillsborough, Somerset County, 15 inches
• East Windsor, Mercer County, 15 inches
• Belle Mead, Somerset County, 14.5 inches
• Middletown, Monmouth County, 14 inches
• Princeton, Mercer County, 14 inches
• Millstone, Monmouth County, 13.5 inches
• Long Branch, Monmouth County, 13 inches
• Flemington, Hunterdon County, 13 inches
• Yardville, Mercer County, 12 inches
• Perkasie, Bucks County (Pa.), 12 inches
• Whitehouse, Hunterdon County, 12 inches
• Bordentown, Burlington County, 11 inches
• Annandale, Hunterdon County, 10 inches
• Browns Mills, Burlington County, 10 inches
• Morrisville, Bucks County (Pa.), 8.5 inches
• Mount Holly, Burlington County, 7 inches.
The highest snowfall total recorded in the state was in Randolph, Morris County, with 25.5 inches of snow on its grounds.
Though the storm has passed, motorists on the road today should still be cautious. Roads that were cleared by work crews yesterday may not remain so today. Winds between 20 and 25 mph are expected to whip through the area, causing much of the snow that fell yesterday to blow and drift.
To access the National Weather Service Web page with information about yesterday’s storm, click here.
Look for more on this story in the Jan. 4, 2001 edition of The Beacon.