Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist's
Top 10 NJ Weather and Climate events of 2012
New Jersey State Climatologist
Center for Environmental Prediction, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences/NJAES, Rutgers University
January 2, 2013
1. Hurricane/Post
Tropical Cyclone Sandy (October 28-30)
a. Winds
gusting as high as 88 mph
b. Record
coastal storm surge central coast and northward
c. As much as
12.71" of rain in Cape May County
d. All-time
record low barometric pressure of 946 mb (27.94")
at landfall
e. Coastal
devastation; 80% of NJ without power
f. 40 deaths
2. South
Jersey derecho (June 30)
a. Winds gusting as
high as 81 mph
b. Considerable tree
damage
c. Power out to over
200,000 customers
d. 5 deaths
3. Record warm
calendar year
a. 56.0° annual average is
2.8° above the 1981-2010 normal
b. 5 months ranked either
warmest (March), 3rd warmest (February, May), or 5th warmest
(July, December) of their respective month dating back 118 years
c. 7 of the 10 warmest
calendar years dating back to 1895 have occurred since 1998
4. Rather
snowless January through April
a. Only 23% of average
snow fell across the state from January-April, leaving the October 29, 2011
storm the snowiest of the 2011/12 "winter"
5. Early
spring green up
a. Growing season 3-4
weeks ahead of average, resulting from a mild winter, especially a record warm
March (8.7° above average)
6. November 7
snow storm
a. Unseasonably early
accumulating snow, particularly in the eastern half of the state and especially
in interior Monmouth and Ocean counties where up to 13" fell
7. Severe
summer thunderstorms (June-early September)
a. 3 deaths from lightning
(individual storms)
b. Rainfall exceeded
3.00" at one or more locations in 7 events
c. Wind gusts exceeded 50
mph on a number of occasions
d. EF0 tornado in Mount
Ephraim (Camden County) on September 4 (only confirmed NJ tornado in 2012)
8. Forest and
brush fires (first 3 weeks of April)
a. Several from several
hundred to 1000 acres; statewide, though concentrated in the Pinelands
b. Late season nor'easter
on April 22 greatly reduced fire danger
9. Wintry
November
a. First month with below
average temperatures (4.1° below average) since January 2010
b. Record streak of 21
consecutive months without a month being below average broken
c. Two measurable snow
events making for the 6th snowiest November since 1895
(statewide average)
10. Driest year since 2001
a. Statewide average of
43.21" (3.73" below normal) is the 8th driest of the
past 30 years
b. Northeast, central and
southwest counties driest
c. Of NJ's 21 counties,
only Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May were above average for the year
For those seeking more detailed information on hourly, daily and monthly conditions, please visit the following Office of the NJ State Climatologist's websites:
NJ Weather and Climate Network
NJ Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network
NJ Snow Event Reports
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