The 5th brought morning snow to the east, which was heaviest in Middlesex, Monmouth, and northern Ocean counties, and moderate rain along the southern coast. More than an inch fell at 47 CoCoRaHS stations, while two locations in Tabernacle (Burlington) came in with only 0.19” and 0.20”. Topping the list of CoCoRaHS stations was Florham Park with 1.52”, followed by Madison with 1.50”, Peapack-Gladstone (Somerset) at 1.48”, Little Falls 1.42”, and Franklin Township (Hunterdon) 1.40”. From the Route 1 corridor northward, 0.75” or more fell, while to the south totals were generally 0.25”–0.75”. The first storm of the month was all rain, beginning in the pre-dawn of the 3rd and ending near dawn on the 4th. Three events saw snow accumulate to 2.0” or more at multiple locations. Snowfall totaled as much as 9.2” in Freehold (Monmouth), 8.3” in Belmar (Monmouth), Howell (Monmouth) 8.1”, Randolph and Madison (both in Morris) 7.3”, and Stockton (Hunterdon) and Berkeley Township (Ocean) 7.2”. On the dry side were some southwest stations, including 3.22” in Mount Ephraim (Camden), Upper Deerfield (Cumberland) with 3.32”, and Franklin Township (Gloucester) 3.38”. Some 45 NJ CoCoRaHS stations had February totals exceeding 5.00”. This was followed by Cedar Grove (Essex) with 6.49”, Florham Park (Morris) 6.37”, Chatham (Morris) 6.33”, South Brunswick (Middlesex) 6.12”, and Hawthorne (Passaic) 6.00”. Top precipitation totals occurred in the northeast, with Little Falls (Passaic County) leading the way with 6.92”. There were six events during the month that deposited more than an inch of liquid (rain and melted snow) somewhere in NJ. This is 3.0” below normal and ranks as the 52nd least snowy of the past 122 Februaries. Snowfall was below normal, with a statewide average of 5.1”. This is 1.35” above normal and ranks as the 24th wettest. Precipitation (rain and melted snow) averaged 4.21”. This ranks as the 19th mildest February since 1895. The statewide average temperature was 35.6°, which is 1.8° above the 1981–2010 normal. A key indicator of the volatile weather pattern was the wind, which on 13 days gusted to 40 mph or higher somewhere in the state, with five of these days gusting to at least 50 mph. This included a brief, exceedingly cold mid-month outbreak with subzero wind chills and a late-month evening with severe thunderstorms bringing strong winds, hail, and flash flooding across NJ. Much like this past January, the second month of 2016 had considerable swings and occasional extremes in temperature and precipitation. The smoke was visible to millions of people in the region and was clearly detectable on radar (click here for a larger view). Strong winds fanned the flames of a massive warehouse fire in Hillsborough (Somerset County) on February 11th and 12th.
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