The biggest New Jersey winter storm of the 2025-’26 season so far brought the roads, rails and skies to a halt on Sunday.
An atmospheric river from the South Pacific collided with an Arctic air mass, creating near-perfect conditions for a significant winter storm on Jan. 25. However, this was not a pure snowstorm.
A layer of above-freezing temperatures roughly 5,000 to 14,000 feet high eventually turned powdery snow into sloppy sleet late morning and early afternoon. This transition, though, came after several inches of snow was recorded around the area.
Atlantic City International Airport recorded 6.2 inches of snow and sleet by the time the storm ended Sunday night, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Other totals in Cape May and Atlantic counties included:
- Buena Vista – 6.7 inches
- Hammonton – 6.3 inches
- Ventnor – 6.0 inches
- Ocean City – 6.0 inches
- Woodbine – 6.0 inches
- Cape May – 5.0 inches
Similar to the Dec. 14 storm, the northern half of the Jersey Shore cashed in on the snow and sleet. Point Pleasant reported 10.3 inches, Long Branch had 10.5 inches and Brick reported 10.9 inches.
The highest totals were in far northwest New Jersey. Not only was it all snow, but it was powdery snow. That was thanks to unusually cold temperatures during the snow. It was in the single digits with heavy snow. You just don’t see that often in New Jersey.
Also unusual was the split in precipitation type across the state. The Jersey Shore warmed from the teens to the upper 20s by late Sunday morning. It was snowing. However, along the New Jersey Turnpike corridor in South Jersey, it was sleeting, despite temperatures in the mid-teens. It could have been much snowier, too.
When you look at coastal storms you look at the track to give you an idea of who will receive snow, a mix or rain. Typically, when low pressure systems go over 40 degrees north latitude, 70 degrees west longitude, that brings all snow to the I-95 corridor, with mixing where we are, farther east. This low pressure system was farther west, though, roughly 74 degrees longitude at 40 degrees north latitude.
Meteorologists call this the “benchmark.” However, the center of the storm was only about 50 miles east of Atlantic City at one point. Yet, we snowed and got sleet, with rain only falling in Cape May, Atlantic and Ocean counties. That was because of the brutally cold air mass we had Saturday. High pressure to the north was feeding in Arctic air. If the low pressure went over the typical benchmark, it would have been fair to say that 12 to 20 inches of snow and sleet would blanket the coastal counties, similar to the Blizzard of 2022.
Snowfall was mostly in line with expectations and road conditions remained treacherous into Monday.
The forecast for the rest of the week and into the weekend shows high temperatures remaining in the upper teens and 20s. Wind chills will make it feel even colder. Overnight lows will be in the single digits for inland areas and low teens for the immediate shoreline. Wind chills Friday morning will be below zero, as cold as negative 10 briefly.
With these types of conditions, frostbite can occur in as little as 30 minutes. Be sure to dress in layers to protect yourself and limit the amount of time spent outdoors.
What will be interesting about the brutal cold air is whether we will break any records. Looking at the data, Atlantic City International Airport has only recorded five consecutive days with temperatures below 25 degrees three times, NOAA data shows. This occurred in January 1981, February 1979 and January 1968. So, if this happens this week, which is a good possibility, it will only be the fourth time on record.
The other record we will be watching for is for overnight lows below 10 degrees. It is going to be a close call, but it is certainly possible that we break this record as well. The last time we had at least five days with lows below 10 degrees was between Dec. 28, 2017, to Jan. 3, 2018, when we had seven consecutive days with lows below 10 degrees.
Sen. Frank S. Farley State Marina may go five days in a row with highs at or under 27 degrees by the time Saturday comes. That would be just the 11th time in its 152 years of record keeping.
The last time this occurred was from Dec. 28, 2017, to Jan. 2, 2018. The forecast also shows overnight lows at or below 15 degrees. Way back in 1994, we had eight days (Jan. 15 to Jan. 22) with low temperatures at or below that threshold.
As of the time of this writing it is too early to get into details. However, there is certainly a storm system signal for Saturday and or Sunday.
Remember, generic weather apps are not human curated and can change on a dime, as it just spits out whatever blend of computer models they use.
Joe Martucci, a Certified Broadcast Meteorologist and Digital Meteorologist, is the President and Director of Meteorology for Cup A Joe Weather and Drone. You can connect with him at cupajoe.live.
