A protracted winter storm of snow, sleet and freezing rain affected northwest New Jersey and most of the Raritan River Basin from the late morning of the 12th into the morning of the 13th. A shorter duration wintry precipitation event affected the rest of the state on the afternoon and evening of the 12th.
The greatest combination of snow, sleet and ice affected Sussex, Warren and Morris Counties. The wintry mix led to a very slippery and protracted commute home from school and work. Many schools dismissed children early and cancelled after school activities. Slippery travel persisted through the morning of the 13th in far northwest New Jersey. Some schools either had delayed openings or were closed on the 13th in the northwest part of the state. Numerous accidents were reported. The winter weather led to power outages as ice laden trees, tree limbs and wires were knocked down. About 45,000 homes and businesses lost power, mainly in the northwest part of the state.
Precipitation started as snow during the late morning in the northwest part of the state and spread southeast during the afternoon. The snow quickly changed to sleet and freezing rain in the southeast part of the state and changed to that icy mixture by 6 p.m. EST in the southwest part of the state. The transition spread north through the rest of the state during the evening of the 12th. Precipitation changed to plain rain during the early evening of the 12th in the southeast part of the state and by late evening in the southwest part of the state. but, it took most of the overnight for this transition to occur across the northern half of the state. Snow and sleet accumulations ranged from one to four inches in the northern half of the state and around an inch or less elsewhere. Ice accretions ranged from one to two tenths of an inch in the southern half of the state to around half an inch in the northern half of the state.
In Sussex County, the wintry mix led to widespread problems. Twenty-one county roads had blockages due to downed trees and wires. Power outages were widespread, as JCP&L reported 30,000 customers in Sussex County lost power during the height of the storm. Most of the outages occurred in the Newton area and parts of Sparta. The Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative, which serves 12,000 members in the northern regions of the county, reported that the Highland Lakes and Barry Lakes sections of Vernon were the hardest hit (PSE&G reported nearly 4,000 customers lost power across northern New Jersey, with most outages occurring on February 12th). In Newton, a Department of Public Works truck sustained severe fire damage when live wires, weighted down by ice, fell on it on Overlook Road. The driver was uninjured. The Newton Memorial Hospital sustained leaks due to a build-up of snow and ice on the roof. Also in Newton, large trees were completely toppled over due to the ice build-up, with their root ball still attached. In Franklin Borough, trees were downed on Sterling Street. In Sparta, ice covered trees toppled over into some roads, even blocking some. In Morris County, several accidents were reported, including some vehicles which struck a utility pole. JCP&L reported less than 500 customers without power in the East Hanover area at 6:00 PM EST. On the 13th, in Boonton, Boonton Township and Montville, Boonton Avenue was closed for approximately an hour and a half on February 13th (reopened at 9:00 AM EST), because of black ice as well as flooding.
In the southwest part of the state in Camden County, the Admiral Wilson Boulevard, leading to the Ben Franklin Bridge, was closed in both directions due to numerous accidents around 5:00 PM EST on the 12th. The icy conditions contributed to a pileup on the Walt Whitman Bridge. County officials warned people to stay off of U.S. Route 130 due to treacherous conditions. In Cherry Hill, traffic around New Jersey State Route 70 was clogged due to icy conditions on the Interstate 295 on-ramps. The New Jersey Turnpike lowered the speed limit to 35 mph because of the weather, and lane closures occurred in Salem and Gloucester Counties. A stretch of New Jersey State Route 55 was closed in Mantua Township (Gloucester County) after a tanker truck carrying a hazardous material load slid due to slippery conditions and overturned. The ice became bad enough on the Commodore Barry Bridge that by 5:00 PM EST the Delaware River Port Authority closed the span between Chester, Pennsylvania and Bridgeport, New Jersey for more salting, which snarled traffic in the area. The Delaware Memorial Bridge between Salem County and Delaware was closed during the evening commute so highway crews could salt it. The speed limit was reduced to 25 mph on other Delaware River Bridges.
In the eastern part of the state, State Police at the Bass River and Sayreville barracks reported the heaviest volume of Garden State Parkway crashes occurred between Lacey (Ocean County) and Tinton Falls (Monmouth County). Toms River (Ocean County) police reported an estimated 30 motor vehicle accidents between 2:00 PM EST and 6:00 PM EST, and no significant injuries were reported. Numerous vehicle accidents were reported throughout Monmouth County. Numerous accidents were also reported in Middlesex and Somerset Counties, some of which included overturned vehicles and vehicles striking utility poles. No serious injuries were reported. The Milltown (Middlesex County) Board of Education postponed its public budget presentation and meeting due to the weather conditions.
In Cumberland County icy road conditions were blamed for multiple vehicle accidents through the city of Vineland. These accidents included three overturned vehicles in three separate accidents, which all occurred with the same hour during the afternoon of the 12th. Only some neck and back pain was reported related to a few of the total accidents.
Snow and sleet accumulations included 4.0 inches in Wantage (Sussex County) and Blairstown (Warren County), 3.5 inches in Butler (Morris County) and Hopatcong (Sussex County), 3.1 inches in Denville (Morris County), 3.0 inches in Hackettstown (Warren County), 2.5 inches in Whitehouse (Hunterdon County) and North Brunswick (Middlesex County), 2.3 inches in Branchburg (Somerset County), 2.1 inches in Hillsborough (Somerset County), 1.5 inches in Princeton (Mercer County), 1.0 inch in Colts Neck (Mercer County) and 0.3 inches in Mount Holly (Burlington County) and National Park (Gloucester County).
The wintry mix was caused by a low pressure system that emerged from northern Texas late in the day on the 11th. The low pressure system moved northeast into the lower Ohio Valley on the morning of the 12th and reached into Ohio by the early evening on the 12th. A secondary low pressure system formed on its warm frontal boundary over Delmarva on the evening of the 12th. This low pressure system tracked northeast toward New York City before dissipating overnight. Other low pressure systems continued to track north along this stalled frontal boundary which started to move east again later in the day on the 13th. These low pressure systems brought in sufficient warm air from the nearby Atlantic Ocean to raise surface temperatures above freezing by the morning of the 13th. The cold surface air was supplied by a fresh high pressure system that moved across nearby Canada and the New England States on the 12th before it exited to the east later that night.

Winter Weather in SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 14:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 21:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in NORTHWESTERN BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 23:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 22:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in GLOUCESTER, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 21:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in SALEM, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 20:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in CUMBERLAND, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 15:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 19:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in WESTERN ATLANTIC, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 17:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 18:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in SUSSEX, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 10:00:00 to 13-FEB-08 06:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 150.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in MORRIS, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 11:00:00 to 13-FEB-08 04:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in HUNTERDON, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 13-FEB-08 02:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in SOMERSET, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 13-FEB-08 02:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in MERCER, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 13-FEB-08 00:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in MIDDLESEX, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 23:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in WESTERN MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 23:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in EASTERN MONMOUTH, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 12:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 22:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in EASTERN OCEAN, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 15:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 20:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Weather in WESTERN OCEAN, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 13:00:00 to 12-FEB-08 22:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter

Winter Storm in WARREN, NEW JERSEY
From 12-FEB-08 11:00:00 to 13-FEB-08 04:00:00 (EST-5)
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Trained Spotter