Winter Storm Jonas was supposed to be a headache for South Jersey, not a backache for Greater Morristown.
So what happened?
And why did Morris Plains get socked with a statewide high of 33 inches?
We asked Ion Weather meteorologist Steve Pellettiere, who measured 24 inches at Morristown Airport and 23 inches in Denville.
“Convective cells were embedded in the storm and that caused isolated heavy snow bands, which may account for the high Morris Plains number,” said Pellettiere, noting he cannot verify that reading because the National Weather Service won’t share the location of its measurement.
Forecasts called for heavier snowfall in southern and central New Jersey. Instead, “a 50-mile northward push put us in a max area because of the thundersnow occurrences and the interaction of the Long Island – New Jersey sea-to-land trajectory of the circulating moisture,” the forecaster said.
“Ocean temps are still in the 40s, and this helped to produce explosive growth in liquid equivalent precipitation. With all cold surface temperatures, it ended up as snow. Classic!”
Indeed.
