New Jersey winter storms
Every recorded winter storm record since 1996 · 21 counties with a record
NOAA's Storm Events Database records 5,132 winter storm records in New Jersey from 1996 through June 30, 2026, about 176 a year since 2000. The deadliest was the January 23, 2016 winter storm: 11 deaths across 5 records. New Jersey ranks 26th of 51 states and territories by count and 1st of 50 per square mile.
Winter storms in New Jersey, 1996 to 2026
Winter storm records per year (NOAA Storm Events); 2026 to June 30, 2026.
- recorded, no damage figure
- under $1 million
- $1 million or more
- $10 million or more
- $100 million or more, or 10 deaths
- $1 billion or more, or 100 deaths
- a year's colour: its recorded damage or deaths
- a year with a death
- Records
- 5,1321996 to June 30, 2026
- A year since 2000
- 176average
- Deaths
- 48911 injuries
- Damage, 2025 dollars
- $127Mas filed
- Busiest year
- 2014324 records
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; deaths and damage as filed, damage in 2025 dollars. Search the record at NCEI.
Are winter storm records common in New Jersey?
New Jersey averages about 176 winter storm records a year since 2000, 26th of 51 states and territories by count. The busiest year on record was 2014 (324). Per 10,000 square miles of land, New Jersey records 6978 winter storm records since 1996, 1st of 50 states and territories by that measure.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records since 1996, per 10,000 square miles of land area (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer; places under 1,000 square miles not ranked). Damage colours: Storm Events damage, 2025 dollars.
Which counties in New Jersey have the most winter storm records?
Per square mile, Mercer County leads New Jersey: 223 days with a winter storm record since 1996, 993.4 per 1,000 square miles of land. By raw count, Sussex County has the most winter storm records (420 since 1996); large counties collect more records simply by covering more ground, so the ranking counts days with a record per unit of area (a storm filed for several forecast zones adds several records but one day).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, days with a record in the county since 1996 per 1,000 square miles of land (Census Bureau 2024 Gazetteer); in brackets, the count of records.
When is winter storm season in New Jersey?
63% of its winter storm records since 1996 fell in January and February. The busiest month is February (1,626 records).
The values, month by month
Jan 1,607 · Feb 1,626 · Mar 740 · Apr 107 · May 0 · Jun 0 · Jul 0 · Aug 0 · Sep 0 · Oct 34 · Nov 108 · Dec 910 (records).
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records by the month they began, since 1996.
What were the deadliest winter storm records in New Jersey?
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-01-23 | Winter StormPassaic County · forecast zone Eastern Passaic One storm episode: 5 records in 4 places; the totals are the episode's. Low pressure moving across the deep South on Thursday January 21st and Friday January 22nd intensifed and moved off the Mid Atlantic coast on Saturday January 23rd, bringing heavy snow and strong winds to northeast New Jersey, and blizzard conditions to the urban corridor and some nearby areas. Governor Chris Christie ... | 11 | 0 | – | |
| 2007-03-16 | Winter WeatherGloucester County · forecast zone Gloucester One storm episode: 9 records in 9 places; the totals are the episode's. A nor'easter caused sleet to fall across the greater Philadelphia Metropolitan Area and the Raritan Basin and heavy snow and sleet to fall across northwestern New Jersey. The nor'easter caused thousands of accidents and six known fatalities. New Jersey State Police responded to over 2,000 calls for assistance. There ... | 6 | 66 | – | |
| 1996-01-07 | BlizzardBurlington County · forecast zone Northwestern Burlington One storm episode: 15 records in 13 places; the totals are the episode's. | 3 | 0 | $23M | |
| 2014-01-10 | Winter WeatherCamden County · forecast zone Camden One storm episode: 6 records in 6 places; the totals are the episode's. A winter weather event dropped snow across northwest New Jersey and the Raritan Valley and a wintry mix that became predominately freezing rain across the rest of central Jersey as well as southwest New Jersey on the 10th. This caused hundreds and hundreds of accidents, a couple of which were fatal, during the morning ... | 2 | 555 | – | |
| 2015-01-18 | Winter WeatherHunterdon County · forecast zone Hunterdon One storm episode: 10 records in 10 places; the totals are the episode's. Freezing rain at the onset of a protracted precipitation event helped cause hundreds of accidents across central and northern New Jersey on the morning into the mid afternoon of the 18th. New Jersey State Police alone responded to 428 accidents and 186 calls for assistance. A couple of accidents resulted in ... | 2 | 32 | – | |
| 2009-12-31 | Winter WeatherCape May County · forecast zone Western Cape May One storm episode: 3 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. A weak low pressure system dropped light snow across northern and southwestern New Jersey and a wintry mix across southeast New Jersey during the morning of 31st. Snowfall averaged 1 to 3 inches with ice accretions less than one tenth of an inch. Precipitation began as a wintry mix across southeast New Jersey and as ... | 2 | 6 | – | |
| 2015-03-20 | Winter WeatherAtlantic County · forecast zone Western Atlantic A winter storm on the first day of astronomical spring dropped snow across most of New Jersey on the 20th. Before precipitation ended, it transitioned to rain in the southern half of New Jersey. Snowfall averaged 3 to 7 inches from Gloucester and inland Atlantic Counties northward and two inches or less elsewhere in ... | 2 | 2 | – | |
| 2010-02-09 | Winter StormMiddlesex County · forecast zone Middlesex One storm episode: 12 records in 9 places, 2010-02-09 to 2010-02-10; the totals are the episode's. For the second time within a week a major winter storm affected New Jersey. Blizzard conditions occurred at times across the extreme southern part of the state during the afternoon and early evening of the 10th. Snowfall averaged 7 to 15 inches across northwest New Jersey, 12 to 20 inches across central New Jersey and ... | 2 | 1 | $6.8M | |
| 2007-03-07 | Winter WeatherOcean County · forecast zone Western Ocean One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. An Alberta Clipper low pressure system dropped light snow across New Jersey during the day on the 7th. Accumulations averaged 1 to 3 inches with some higher amounts in Cape May County. The recent unseasonably cold weather made it easier for the snow to accumulate on roadways and bridges and overpasses during the early ... | 2 | 1 | – | |
| 2013-12-08 | Winter WeatherHunterdon County · forecast zone Hunterdon A complex low pressure system tracked across the Great Lakes during the 8th and the 9th, allowing an associated frontal boundary to move over the northern Mid Atlantic Region on the 8th, with a secondary area of low pressure forming off the Mid Atlantic coast. Significant forcing and lift within the atmosphere ... | 2 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: deaths direct and indirect, as filed by the National Weather Service, summed over each storm (one episode, or one named storm filed by several offices). Storm names from the titles of FEMA declarations that name the storm's counties.
The costliest winter storm records in New Jersey
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-02-06 | BlizzardCape May County · forecast zone Western Cape May One storm episode: 3 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 2 | $68M | |
| 1996-01-07 | BlizzardBurlington County · forecast zone Northwestern Burlington One storm episode: 15 records in 13 places; the totals are the episode's. | 3 | 0 | $23M | |
| 2005-01-22 | Winter StormOcean County · forecast zone Western Ocean One storm episode: 17 records in 14 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 0 | $12M | |
| 2003-02-16 | Heavy SnowMiddlesex County · forecast zone Middlesex One storm episode: 21 records in 16 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 10 | $12M | |
| 2010-02-09 | Winter StormMiddlesex County · forecast zone Middlesex One storm episode: 12 records in 9 places, 2010-02-09 to 2010-02-10; the totals are the episode's. | 2 | 1 | $6.8M | |
| 1996-01-07 | Winter StormAtlantic County · forecast zone Western Atlantic One storm episode: 5 records in 3 places; the totals are the episode's. | 1 | 0 | $3.4M | |
| 2008-12-10 | Ice StormSussex County · forecast zone Sussex | 0 | 0 | $1.4M | |
| 2011-02-01 | Winter StormMorris County · forecast zone Morris One storm episode: 2 records in 2 places; the totals are the episode's. | 0 | 9 | $66K |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database: property and crop damage as estimated by the National Weather Service, in 2025 dollars.
Are winter storm records becoming more frequent in New Jersey?
New Jersey's count per decade against the whole country's, and its share. NOAA recorded every event type only from 1996, so earlier decades are not comparable; the share of the national total is the fairer comparison across decades.
| Decade | New Jersey | United States | New Jersey's share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996-99 | 437 | 32,893 | 1.3% |
| 2000s | 1,796 | 88,805 | 2.0% |
| 2010s | 2,069 | 103,626 | 2.0% |
| 2020-26 | 830 | 62,015 | 1.3% |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
The most recent winter storm records in New Jersey
| Date | Record | Character | Killed | Injured | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherSalem County · forecast zone Salem | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherGloucester County · forecast zone Gloucester | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherCamden County · forecast zone Camden | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherBurlington County · forecast zone Northwestern Burlington | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherMercer County · forecast zone Mercer | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherSomerset County · forecast zone Somerset | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherHunterdon County · forecast zone Hunterdon | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherMorris County · forecast zone Morris | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherWarren County · forecast zone Warren | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-03-03 | Winter WeatherSussex County · forecast zone Sussex | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-23 | BlizzardCape May County · forecast zone Eastern Cape May | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026-02-23 | BlizzardCape May County · forecast zone Western Cape May | 0 | 0 | – |
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, records through June 30, 2026; the newest months are revised by NCEI as reports arrive. Search the record at NCEI.
Federal disaster declarations for winter storm records in New Jersey
FEMA has declared 10 disasters in New Jersey for winter storm, counting its incident type and declarations that name snow or winter storm or ice storm or blizzard in the title (FEMA files most storm disasters under Severe Storm); 8 were major disasters, the latest on April 28, 2021.
| Declared | Number | Title | Areas named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-04-28 | DR-4597 | Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm | 5 |
| 2018-06-08 | DR-4368 | Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm | 6 |
| 2016-03-14 | DR-4264 | Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm | 17 |
| 2011-02-04 | DR-1954 | Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm | 15 |
| 2010-03-23 | DR-1889 | Severe Winter Storm and Snowstorm | 7 |
| 2010-02-05 | DR-1873 | Snowstorm | 7 |
| 2003-03-20 | EM-3181 | Snow | 21 |
| 1996-01-13 | DR-1088 | Blizzard of 96 (Severe Snow Storm) | 21 |
| 1993-03-17 | EM-3106 | Severe Blizzard | 21 |
| 1977-02-08 | DR-528 | Ice Conditions | 10 |
Source: FEMA OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations Summaries (v2), through October 2, 2026. OpenFEMA dataset page.
Next
- Mercer County: the county's whole recordThe New Jersey county with the most winter storm records per square mile
- Winter storms across the United StatesEvery state ranked, by year and month
- Every natural hazard in New JerseyTornadoes, floods, storms, heat and the federal declarations
- Severe thunderstorm wind in New Jersey6,055 records
- Floods in New Jersey3,787 records
- High wind and dust storms in New Jersey3,591 records