JERSEY SHORE – Atmospheric conditions created a perfect storm – if you can call it that – which dumped two feet of snow in the region.
The snow accumulation for Toms River was 23.5 inches as of 10:45 a.m. on Monday, February 23, according to meteorologist Zach Cooper with the National Weather Service. That count is unofficial until researched further, though.
Considering it was still going strong for hours after that, it’s safe to say that it was quite higher than two feet.
This breaks a bit of a record for this time of the year. According to National Weather Service statistics, the highest snow accumulation for a storm in mid-February in Toms River is 24 inches. That storm happened in 1899!
Regardless of how the total is tallied, this is certainly a storm in the higher echelon of historic snowfalls. But why did this happen?
Cooper explained that several factors contributed to make a very powerful system that didn’t move very quickly. It practically parked over certain towns, dumping two inches an hour which added up very quickly.
And it’s not over yet.
Tuesday night into Wednesday has a 40% chance of snow after midnight. Fortunately, less than half an inch will be added to whatever is still out there. This is likely to turn into rain during the day on Wednesday. Another half an inch or less is expected on Wednesday.
More rain is expected on Thursday, but this could turn to snow overnight. It’s not clear what kind of accumulation we can expect.
This prediction also comes from the National Weather Service.
