Berkeley Township Has Lowest Temperature In State During Cold Snap

Think it was cold in Berkeley early Monday morning?

You'd be right. The thermometer plunged to -8 degrees, the lowest recorded temperature in the state, according to nj.com.

And that's without any wind chill numbers factored in.

Toms River was second with -6 degrees and -4 in Millville, new daily record, according to the National Weather Service and the New Jersey Weather & Climate Network at Rutgers University.

The more than eight inches of snow that fell in Berkeley Township during the weekend's winter storm led to the frigid temperatures early Monday morning, said Lance Franck, a National Weather Service meterologist in the Mount Holly office.

"We had the ideal radiational (nighttime) cooling and the fresh deep snow pack, which contributed several degrees to those numbers," Franck said. "Without the snow pack, it wouldn't have been that cold."

New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson, who teaches at Rutgers University and oversees the New Jersey Weather & Climate Network, agreed.

On calm, clear mornings, like the one that greeted New Jerseyans when they woke up on Monday, the Sussex town of Walpack often has the coldest temperature readings across the state, Robinson said.

But early Monday, the low temperature in Walpack was 1 degree above zero -- still frigid, but not as cold as the 8 degrees below zero in Berkeley Township. In Saturday's storm, Berkeley got hit with more than 8 inches of snow, and most sections of Sussex County received only a trace to 2 inches.

"The fresh snow helps to insulate the atmosphere from the milder ground under the snow," Robinson said. "It also serves as a sponge of sorts, drying out the overlying air, which allows it to cool more efficiently."

But the cold will be fleeting. Temperatures are expected to warm up to the upper 40s and 50s by midweek.

To read the entire story, click here.

Image: Patricia A. Miller