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Wantage NJ 4 sw 740' MSL 0.8" probably snowing largest flakes of the night. pave wet. 32F. 740AM images attached. May or may not post a final report around 10A depending on other life. Will post update tonight or Christmas night on NJ statewide averages needed for annual RER. Later, Walt

Wantage NJ 4 sw (or ~8 mi s of High Point in nw NJ): 0.6" snow, mostly non paved surface's. S-- 510AM. SB ~ midnight. densely packed small flake snow. ~31.5F at this time.

fwiw, tomorrow midday, I may begin a snow accumulations OBS ONLY thread for the Sunday night cyclically advertised snow ne PA, newd through nw NJ/ se NYS into SNE. Just want to be more sure of the event as snow with its southern edge very close to where its now modeled...as minor as it is. Am seeing consistent run-run (NAM/EC/GEFS) model guidance of equivalent qpf 0.1-0.2 with a decent short wave passage.

This info will update no later than the 29th, wrapping up the necessary next two events (early 24th minor), 28th significant, needed to equal or exceed the record annual average for the entire state of NJ. From the attached image, I estimate NJ state average for the event of the 20th-22nd to be about about 1.65", though that might be a little low. I think a conservative estimate is best for starters, until the NJ state climatologists office evaluation. Therefore, for the remainder of December, we probably need to average another 0.85 or more to reach the state record (63.95")---which probably wont be "preliminarily" declared by our state climatologist office, til the first week of January.

Wantage NJ 4 sw (Sussex County): final event total 1.43" 230 PM Thursday-330 AM today.

Is this also going to serve as the obs thread (1+ inch rain/> 45 MPH wind gust) for the coming substantial rain event 6P/20-6A/22? Or should we begin another OBS only thread. Whatever you prefer. I'll check back Thursday morning. Thanks, Walt

Late reports this Monday afternoon: two elevated locations in Pike County of ne PA (above 1000 feet) had significant snowfall late yesterday afternoon-early evening. Dingmans with 2" and Milford (nearby high elevation), estimated 4". That should finally do it for the wrap, from my side. 12/17 557P

Good Monday evening, December 17... Per consult with the NJ State Climatologists office... It appears the statewide NJ December average precipitation through the 16th, has been about 2.49". All we need is NJ statewide average of an additional 2.50" for the remainder of the month to reach 2011's total, equaling the yearly record of 63.95" This against the background info that already a number of cities in the east have set new annual records. My next update on this for NJ should be around the 23rd.

Thank you all, for the wintry observations only, on this thread and what I intended. Unsure whether media monitor... nor how many participants in this focus area. However, the wintry observations only idea should make this more attractive for reality checkers.

Wantage NJ 4 sw... few very wet flakes embedded in light-mdt rain since ~412PM. won't post again until we notice a substantial type change here, if that occurs. Can hear the ticks on window.

Noticing temps trying to drop in the banding developing beneath a comma head. Could be some interesting ptype changes in pockets of elevation above 700 feet this evening in nw NJ elevations. Lets see if Vernon the first with wet flake mix does change to all wet snow or revert to all rain.

I will try to update late 17th, what we will probably need to be the wettest year on record across the entire state of NJ. Attached is a multi sensor processed and estimated rainfall for the past 48 hrs. My estimate through Noon today, is that we've had about 1.5" this month (could end up ~2" by time this storm is over), which would leave us ~3" short to be #1... still unlikely, but possibly within 1/2 inch. Will need more than the event of the 20th-21st. Will try and post late Monday regarding our best estimate of the actual status through the 16th.

Following photos from High Point State Park in the northwest tip of NJ with temp 34 (melting)...The Monument at the ~1025AM photos was about 31F. Roads were just wet. This is at least 0.1" glaze on everything, not paved. The L and R photos are at the closed entry to the park, and the center photos is about 100 feet below the entrance. Ice ended at about 47.5 SR23 marker. Suspect remaining Sunday morning ice accumulation problems, if any, are above 1700 feet near the edge of Sussex County NJ, at 1030A.

There has to be problems in ne PA and and se NYS, above about 1000 feet. Just saw Mount Pocono ASOS indicating about .1 glaze, and a report from NWS BGM -Forest City, PA which about ~20-25 mi ne AVP of glazing. High Point NJ still 31F per Rutgers Climo observation data. Have a good day... will check obs later today.

Thanks for that ob. We're (Highland Lakes, southern Wantage Township) on the margin of rain/vs ice. Will be interested in obs ne PA Monroe-Pike counties elevations then northward from there and High Point NJ into southern NYS higher terrain. Thanks again. Our temp here up 1.3F in the past hour, so am not expecting icing here at 740'MSL for quite awhile.

Observations (measured) of freezing rain, sleet and snow for the Sunday December 16 event. May help NWS and media alike. Thanks, Walt

Thank you IrishRob17: I am concerned that non convective observed information is not being distributed a timely fashion by NWS (yes, I realize they have staffing/product/internal guidelines-time constraints that determine what happens). I think we need a national database whereby everything observed (non-platform, non-coop-non-CoCORAHS) that is submitted for review, is available by state and event or single day of the week. Let the user-consumer beware of questionable data and appropriately filter. In any case... I am thinking we are going to need a separate thread (NON model comments) of observed winter weather for Sunday-Monday Dec 16-17, I80 north from ne PA nw NJ nwd into NYS and east eventually into New England. That way, I know interested consumers (you/I, NWS) have one spot to go in this NYC thread for pertinent observed ice/snow for this probable coming event. I know there are other chats...but I can't submit to all of these and I choose this forum as a best fit for now; also now submitting again tor MOE-FSU (Bob Hart's page) as my time allows, ditto NWS PHI. We can begin that separate event thread tomorrow afternoon sometime--i just want to keep it simple, free of time consuming model debate, whereby American Weather has other threads that can continue all of that. I just like simplicity for swift data review-thats why I like platforms. Thanks for considering. Walt 12/14/18 903AM

Not sure which thread to post this info? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we need different threads for different events so folks can go to one thread for comprehensive observation information. For Wantage NJ, 4 sw elevation ~740'MSL (Sussex County). Yesterdays (12/13/18) 0.4" fluffy snow 630A-Noon. Then overnight, freezing drizzle iced up all untreated surfaces. Those surfaces slowly trying to melt at 715AM, with a temp of 33.1

My read of the GFS/GGEM for nw NJ/ne PA is significant events for Dec 14-15, Dec 19-21. Much of it in 8 hours ea event. Looks like strong inside runners (to me). Just need to wait it out and see if there are weaker, further east trends. I dont commit to amounts here, because I dont want to get into model debates. Just my view on what I look for from model cues.

Will look at this again around midday the 16th and midday the 21st subsequent to possible events, and time permitting.

Updating the 2018 season through Dec 3, 2018, as per the NJ State Climatologists office: NJ statewide average for Nov 8.77", second wettest behind the 9.01 in 1972. Fall 2018 is the wettest ever in official NJ recorded history. The NJ statewide annual total through November is 58.94", 3rd wettest and we needed only .25" to jump to #2, which it surely did Dec 1-2. We still need nearly 5" of liquid equivalent precipitation in December to make this the wettest year in recorded history for NJ. This may be my last post on this information, barring a significant run to 5" total w.e. pcpn this month. Thanks for the views. 717A 12/4

Probably averaged statewide .4 to .5 so far Dec 1-2 (through 12z/2)... on our way to #2 wettest year (NJ Statewide average).

Welcome to December: NJ focused post. The following can be merged elsewhere with a tread that I might have missed. The reason for this post is the excessive yearly rainfall (especially summer-fall), that had been a hydro concern from the Carolinas to the mid Atlantic states. The focus is here in NJ, where small stream and basement sump pump activations have been noticeable, even here in rocky far nw NJ (Sussex County). I won't be following this message closely- it is just information. Recovery is welcome from the wettest fall ever in NJ (source NJ State Climatologist). We're already the 4th wettest year (2018) in generally over 100 years of recorded history. An additional inch in December will make it the 2nd wettest year and a portion of that will occur tonight. It would take nearly 6 more inches to be the wettest year and that's unlikely. Still, if you didn't flood this summer/fall, then you're probably in a pretty good location with respect to runoff/drainage. Ditto if your septic systems survived the excesses of the summer-fall 2018. The good news...we have had water replenishment for wells and recreational river/stream related activity. 644AM EST 12/1/18

Wantage NJ 4 sw: (3 w of FWN) 1.53" between 6PM last evening and 230AM today. Yearly total exceeds 60". Per an early November check with NJ Climate team...2018 I think is going to go down as top 3 wettest years in NJ official record keeping, especially here in nw NJ=treasured water replenishment(wells/large rivers etc). posted 727AM 11/25