Icy waters at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal in North Cape May on the morning of February 20. Photo by Cape May - Lewes Ferry.
The answer: remarkably cold! As if anyone living in New Jersey has any doubt. February 2015 is destined to be one of the coldest months since statewide records commenced in 1895. As observations currently stand, along with projections through month’s end, this will likely be the second coldest February and the fourth coldest of any January or February. Table 1 lists the ten coldest Februaries, based on observations gathered from several dozen stations throughout NJ. Looking north and south, it appears as if this will be the second coldest February in the north (Hunterdon, Somerset, and Union counties northward) and third coldest in the south. This is in line with the coldest core being situated over New England and the added chilling effect of the ground being snow covered throughout the month in the north, while only being so over the last two weeks down south. The two colder Januaries were in 1918 (19.9°) and 1977 (20.2°).
|
Rank |
Year |
Feb Temp Avg |
|
1 |
1934 |
17.9° |
|
2 |
2015 |
21.8° |
|
3 |
1979 |
21.9° |
|
4 |
1905 |
22.7° |
|
5 |
1895 |
22.9° |
|
6 |
1907 |
23.0° |
|
7 |
1978 |
23.2° |
|
8 |
1936 |
24.0° |
|
9 |
1904 |
24.2° |
|
10 |
1901 |
24.7° |
Table 1. Top 10 coldest NJ Februaries since 1895. The 2015 average is based on observations through February 25 and projections through month’s end.
Along with the persistent cold have been some exceedingly cold mornings and some exceptional wind chill values. The thermometer has dipped below zero on 18 days at Walpack (Sussex County), bottoming out at -20° on the 24th. Historical records show that only on February 28, 1934, was a colder temperature observed in NJ later in the season, that being -23° at Layton (Sussex). Most locations outside of urban centers and immediately adjacent to the coast have seen the thermometer dip below zero on several mornings, most notably the 20th (especially in the south) and 24th. Table 2 provides a sampling of coldest monthly minimums around NJ.
|
Community |
County |
Minimum |
|
Walpack |
Sussex |
-20° |
|
Pequest |
Warren |
-15° |
|
Kingwood |
Hunterdon |
-14° |
|
Basking Ridge |
Somerset |
-13° |
|
Charlotteburg Reservoir |
Passaic |
-12° |
|
Berkeley Twp |
Ocean |
-12° |
|
Hope |
Warren |
-12° |
|
High Point |
Sussex |
-11° |
|
High Point Monument |
Sussex |
-10° |
|
Oswego Lake |
Burlington |
-9° |
|
Wantage |
Sussex |
-9° |
|
Stewartsville |
Warren |
-7° |
|
Woodbine |
Cape May |
-7° |
|
Howell |
Monmouth |
-7° |
|
Hillsborough |
Somerset |
-6° |
|
Haworth |
Bergen |
-5° |
|
Clayton |
Gloucester |
-4° |
|
Sicklerville |
Camden |
-4° |
|
Jersey City |
Hudson |
0° |
|
Sea Girt |
Monmouth |
1° |
|
Atlantic City Marina |
Atlantic |
3° |
|
West Cape May |
Cape May |
5° |
Table 2. A sampling of February 2015 extreme February minimum temperatures around NJ. It includes any station that fell to at least -10°. Observations are from NJ Weather and Climate Network stations.
Wind chills on multiple occasions have dipped below zero throughout the state, at times between -10° and -20°. The worst wind chill conditions have been observed at High Point Monument (Sussex), where below zero temperatures and wind speeds exceeding 40 mph have on three occasions (on the 15th, 16th, and 20th) resulted in wind chills near -40°.
