Throughout January, West Cape May experienced single digit minimums on four days (minimum 5° on the 30th) and fell below freezing on 23 days. A fresh snowpack was of assistance in lowering southern temperatures, while the older snowpack in the north, despite the frigid cold readings, was not as effective in refrigerating the lower atmosphere. ![]() Some 24 stations around NJ fell below zero on the 30th, led by -10° at both Kingwood and Walpack. South Jersey experienced its coldest morning of the month on the 30th, with -9° at Oswego Lake (Burlington) and Berkeley Township (Ocean) and -6° at both Woodbine (Cape May) and Upper Deerfield (Cumberland). ![]() Walpack came in at -1° on the 26th and -2° on the 28th, and, along with Pequest, fell to -2° on the 29th. Minimum honors went to Berkeley Township (Ocean) and Basking Ridge (Somerset) on the 24th, when both fell to -10°. Pequest at -8° and Kingwood (Hunterdon) at -7° were the coldest locations on the 23rd. High Point Monument and High Point dropped to -9° and -8°, respectively, on the 22nd. Seven of the last ten days of January saw subzero cold at one or more location. The cold at Walpack is indicative of cold air pooling in valleys while High Point Monument is often the coldest location when cold air sweeps into the region, with winds at these times stirring up the lower atmosphere and minimizing cold air drainage into valleys. The cold continued into the 8th, with lows of -4° at Walpack and -3° at the Monument, an interesting pair of minimums. These were the coldest daylight hours in NJ since January 19, 1994. For instance at noon, temperatures ranged from -3° at High Point Monument to 12° in West Cape May (Cape May). Wind chills of -10° to -20° (colder in gusts) were common across NJ during the daylight hours of the 7th, when thermometers across most of the state sat in the single digits. Accompanying the cold on the 7th was strong wind that resulted in dangerous wind chills as low as -27° at the Monument at 11 AM, when the temperature was -4° with a wind speed of 20 mph. Walpack fell to -8° on the 5th and Pequest -5°.įollowing the brief warm up on the 6th, minimums again fell below zero at some locations on the 7th, including -6° at High Point Monument (Sussex) and -5° at High Point (300 feet lower than the Monument station). The “mildest" location in the state was Atlantic City Marina (Atlantic) at 13°. Kingwood (Hunterdon) was -10° and 28 other stations dropped below zero on the 4th. By the morning of the 4th the temperature bottomed out at -13° in Walpack and -12° at Pequest. The first frigid episode began on the 3rd, when late in the evening Walpack (Sussex) dropped to -12° and Pequest (Warren) reached -8°. Oceanport saw 55° on the 12th, and five stations reached 60° on the 13th. The 60° mark was reached at 29 of the 52 NJ Weather and Climate Network stations on the 11th, with Bivalve the coolest in the network at 53°. The mildest day of the month occurred on the 11th, with 64° at Cherry Hill, Mansfield (Burlington), Sewell (Gloucester), and Red Lion (Burlington). The 6th brought 62° to Cherry Hill (Camden) and 61° to four other south Jersey locations. On the 5th Dennis Township (Cape May County) reached 57° and both Woodbine (Cape May) and Piney Hollow (Gloucester) hit 56°. Five days saw locations with maximums of 55° or greater. ![]() There was even an unusual plunge of over 50° at many locations from the 6th to 7th. The variable swings of the thermometer in January are exemplified by the 11 days where maximum temperatures exceeded 50° at one or more locations in the state and the 12 days where minimum temperatures fell below 0°. ![]() Snowfall averaged 17.7", which is 10.6" above normal and ranks at the 8th snowiest January on record. This is 0.39" below normal and ranks as the 57th driest. Precipitation in the form of rain, freezing rain, and melted snowfall averaged 3.09". The statewide average temperature for January was 26.1°, which is 5.1° below the 1981-2010 average and ranks as the 17th coldest since 1895 (120 years). By late month, the pattern slowed, but remained amplified, locking NJ into over a week of bitter cold conditions. The year began where 2013 left off, with the jet stream in an amplified, progressive pattern that resulted in frequent, pronounced fluctuations in temperature and multiple precipitation events.
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