Weather
By Dan Skeldon
“Variable” may be the single best word to describe the weather in our beloved but small corner of the world that is South Jersey. It certainly varies from the weather in Philly, something that Philadelphia television stations don’t always fully grasp. It varies from the mainland to the shore and from the Pinelands to the islands. Sometimes, it can even vary from one barrier island to the next. Those variations can be dramatic, and, to a meteorologist like myself, quite impressive. In wintertime, that can mean going from 0” of snow, or in other words, a cold rain in Margate, to 20” of snow in Mays Landing. In the spring and summer, temperature differences can be just as wide-ranging, with 20 to 30-degree spreads (or more) over very short distances.
As a meteorologist, trying to forecast that variability is challenging enough and has been the subject of past columns. Then there’s the task of effectively communicating that forecast. To that end, I want to thank the fine folks that built the Garden State Parkway for making that task easier. I’m also indebted to other major roadways like Interstate 95, the New Jersey Turnpike, Route 54 through western Atlantic County, and Route 55 through Cumberland County.
Highways are, of course, intended to make our commutes easier. Well, they all are except the Parkway on any weekend between Memorial Day and Labor Day. However, over my two-decade tenure as a meteorologist, I’ve learned they inadvertently help me in my job as well. Why? The truth is not everyone has a great grasp of geography. I imagine very few of us can name all 23 municipalities in Atlantic County, the 13 cities, 6 townships, 3 boroughs, and 1 town (Wondering which one is the town? The answer: Hammonton). Even fewer people can locate each one on a map.
However, practically everyone knows where the Parkway is or where they live and work in relation to it. So when communicating a weather forecast, using the Parkway as a reference point is very relatable to most viewers, listeners, and readers. Hence, “3 to 6 inches of snow west of the Parkway” becomes the type of forecast wording you hear each winter. The fact that most of us utilize these major roadways in our travels each day makes them a very useful communication tool for local meteorologists.
There’s another natural advantage to using these roads in a weather forecast, and that has to do with topography. In many cases, major roadways are built along natural or topographical boundaries. For instance, the Parkway runs north to south in New Jersey and parallels the shore along its entire length. The Interstate 95 corridor runs along the East Coast, granted farther inland from the Parkway, and separates the coastal plain to its south and east with the higher terrain to the north and west. This is also called the “fall line” as it’s the point many rivers coming out of those higher elevations have waterfalls as they flow towards the ocean. So I-95 and all its traffic jams may not be a perfect roadway for commuting on many an evening but is often a perfect, albeit manmade, meteorological boundary. That’s why South Jersey snow lovers often hear “the jackpot will be north and west of Interstate 95” many a winter. The highway serves as the dividing line between colder and snowier versus warmer and rainier, at least during many classic East Coast winter storms.
Of course, it doesn’t work that way for every highway. Just as popular in the summer as the Garden State Parkway is the Atlantic City Expressway, which is oriented perpendicular to the Parkway and runs from Atlantic City to Philadelphia. If you add Route 42 and Interstate 76 into the mix, it gets even more complicated. Let’s just simplify things and say it runs northwest to southeast through South Jersey. Given that orientation, however, it’s not as useful as it doesn’t serve as a natural boundary for most types of weather. There are exceptions, of course. The Expressway gets a shoutout every once in a while to describe the track of lines of severe thunderstorms. In the spring, it can sometimes serve as the battleground for when backdoor fronts slide down the coast and get hung up nearby the ACE. However, unfortunately for the Expressway, it doesn’t get as much weather love as the Parkway does.
So while many from New Jersey identify with which exit number they are from, a Garden State meteorologist identifies with which side of the Parkway you’re on. For me, it was 13 years east in Ocean City and 4 years west in Egg Harbor Township. Now I’m up in snow country on the edge of the Poconos, well north and west of Interstate 95. It is even north of Interstate 78. However, as an avid snow lover, it’s the place to be.
Meteorologist Dan Skeldon has a degree in meteorology from Cornell University. He has forecasted the weather in South Jersey for the last 18 years, first on the former television station NBC40 and then on Longport Media radio. Dan has earned the American Meteorological Society Seal of Approval for Broadcast Meteorologists, and now does television broadcasts on WFMZ-TV in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.
