First Widespread Freeze of the Season

October 19, 2018 - 10:51am -- Dave Robinson

This morning was a frosty one, with many NJWxNet locations across the state seeing their first freezing temperatures of the season. The accompanying map shows that most every location away from coastal and urban environs dipped to the freezing point or lower. Walpack (Sussex County), the traditional cold spot in NJ on calm clear nights, was the coldest spot at 24°. Atlantic City Marina (Atlantic) and Lower Alloways Creek, along the Delaware Bay coast in Salem County, were mildest, with lows of 46°. All other NJWxNet sites were no milder than 42°. One of the more interesting cold readings was the 32° minimum at Jersey City (Hudson). This station is located in Liberty State Park, demonstrating that even parkland within urban regions can get awfully chilly on calm, clear nights. However, it is a bit surprising to see this low, given that the station is quite close to the waters of NY Harbor.

Oct 19 minimum temperature map
Minimum temperatures at NJWxNet stations on the morning of October 19, 2018.


Today did not bring the first freeze of the season to some locations in New Jersey. Earlier this week on the 17th, Walpack dipped to 31°, and Basking Ridge (Somerset) and Pequest (Warren) were each 32°. Yesterday, the 18th, found Walpack at 27° and nine other NJWxNet stations (out of 62 reporting) from 29°–32°. Today’s freezing count of 27 stations is a sure sign that the Garden State’s growing season has come to a close.