Snowstorms and Sledding in Somerset County New Jersey

Snowstorm and Sledding Somerset Hills Mr Local History Project

Snow is an interesting thing. Some love it. Some hate it. But when there’s a major storm in the area, there’s the battle between getting a snow day and whether to play in it or dread removing it. If you live in the area and would like to share an image or story, feel free to post your memory at the end of the story.

Snowstorm Memories

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March 19 1956 Snowstorm Bville News

March 19 1956 Snowstorm Bville News2

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Snow Shovel Humor

Snowstorm History Somerset Hills

Snowstorm and Sledding Somerset Hills Mr Local History Project

Skating with Snow

FH c1925 NJDH Snowstorm plowing

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2011 Halloween snow 27 scaled

1925 BR snow

1923 BR Snowfall

BM c1925 NJDH Belle Hammond and her son Fred Field negotiate the snow in their Essex.

Fenwick Statue Mr Local History Project Snow

2011 Halloween snow 40 scaled

2016 Great Snow Storm 26 scaled

The Mr. Local History Project went digging (figuratively) to shovel through records to see when the area experienced heavy snowfall in our local history. Then, we added the most historic sledding spots.

How is Snowfall Measured?

One of the interesting things we learned about recording snowfall totals is that it’s a bit arbitrary. Watch and learn how the National Weather Service measures snowfall.

How snowfall is measured officially.

1956, 1888 and 2016 Rule the Record Books

The largest snow EVER actually occurred back on March 18, 1956, dumping a whopping 30 inches on the area. In the Somerset Hills area, the Somerset Hills Regional School District, which serves Bernardsville, Peapack-Gladstone, and Far Hills, the Bernards Township School District, and Bedminster Elementary School were all closed as a result.

March 19-20,1956, was the area’s most significant recorded snowstorm in our area, which dropped 30 inches in the area.

The Jonas Storm of 2016 Challenged 1956

The largest snow accumulation in recent memory was the 26 inches on January 23, 2016. That storm was the 3rd largest dumping recorded in the area.

Snowfall totals in Central Park were upped from 26.8 inches to 27.5 inches, making the 2016 storm on Jan. 22-23 the biggest blizzard to hit the city since recordkeeping began in 1869, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The record smashes the previous all-time mark of 26.9 inches set in February of 2006.

In Somerset County, the biggest one-day snowfall was on Jan. 23, 2016 when Basking Ridge got nearly three full feet or 30 inches of snow. That is tied for the state’s biggest one-day snowfall of 30 inches in Sussex on Jan. 26, 1905.
Basking Ridge Patch – January 24, 2016

Official Snow Totals/Measurements

Below are the NWS recorded snowstorm totals for our area:

Officially recorded snowfall totals for recorded storms.

What was called “Winter Storm Jonas” hit the area on January 24-26,2016, where snow totals may have been tied to the great snowstorm of 1956 based on various accounts. Ranges are estimated from 24-30 inches.

Epic Somerset County Local Sledding Venues

In the 1880s, Samuel Leeds Allen reinvented winter with the Flexible Flyer, a sled on red steel runners that riders could steer with their hands or feet. A self-taught inventor, Allen knew he’d hit it big when the kids told him so.

Posted by Denise Pecoraro Turner and the Bernardsville News.

Somerset Hills & Surrounding Area Historic Sledding Venues

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