It's Impossible To Forget The Horrible Ice Storm That Ravaged New Jersey In 2015
By Kristen|Published December 20, 2017
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Kristen
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Kristen is a writer, editor, and social media maven who loves her state. Born and raised in New Jersey, sharing all it has to offer is her passion. After attending Montclair State University, she continued her education online, obtaining certifications in social media management.
The weather in New Jersey is pretty moderate. While we do have four seasons, we’re not prone to earthquakes, tornadoes or other natural disasters. While things do happen, we’re pretty fortunate on the weather front. However, we’ve had some notable storms that have caused significant damage. While Hurricane Sandy is the first that comes to mind, there is another storm that took us by surprise but caused damage on a much smaller scale.
The U.S. National Weather Service defines an ice storm as a storm which results in the accumulation of at least .25 inches of ice on exposed surfaces.
This is rare in New Jersey. While we do have freezing rain, it tends not to accumulate to that extent. They can be very damaging, taking down trees and electrical wires and causing serious traffic accidents. One of the worst ice storms to hit the Garden State happened back in 1921. The storm hit from Pennsylvania to New York, and headed northeast. Damage to power lines, trees, and phone lines was estimated at $20 million. But we had a startling ice storm much more recently.
The ice storm on January 18, 2015 took us all by surprise.
Forecasters predicted a mild rainstorm. However, we hit that quarter-inch of ice mark in some parts of the state. Towns hit the worst include Parsippany, Harrison, Butler and Cedar Grove. Affected counties include Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union.
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The storm took down trees and New Jersey state police responded to 428 accidents and 186 calls for aid.
The storm, which hit North and Central New Jersey worst, also affected New York City. The city was unprepared for the volume of accidents and New Jersey ambulance companies needed to step in and respond. The storm was given the nickname #icezilla.
Several roads and bridges were closed and speed restrictions were put in place.
Even a salt truck slid and crashed into three cars in East Orange. Drivers were told to stay off the road if possible, but the warnings came too late. Roads were treacherous, and led to record accident rates in the Garden State. There were fatalities in surrounding states.
Unusually cold temperatures led to frozen ground; when the freezing rain stopped, regular rain was frozen on contact. A terrible thunderstorm and flooding ensued. It was one of the rainiest January days on record.
If you stayed in during the storm, you may not remember this event, but I’m sure most drivers do. It was also so unexpected that it made waves with the National Weather Service. Does it stand out in your mind? What about the blizzard of ’96? Click here for more on that storm.
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