Here's the date to expect NJ's first snow of the 2022-2023 season

Welcome to November. The Winter Solstice is still a full 50 days away, coming up on December 21st. But, believe it or not, New Jersey's "snow season" has already begun.

It's true. Looking back through history, measurable snowfall has been recorded in New Jersey across each of eight months of the year, from (late) October through (early) May.

That leaves a very wide window for when New Jersey's first snow of the season is "supposed to" fall. And there are a variety of ways to answer that question, depending on which snowfall threshold you care about.

You know it's coming. The most significant storm of last winter was a blizzard in late January. (Getty Images)

Last year, the 2021-2022 snow season began on Christmas Eve (December 24th), as upwards of 2 inches of snow accumulated across much of North Jersey. (According to the Office of the NJ State Climatologist, which keeps detailed snow event records for the state.)

2020-2021 started even earlier, with a rare October snowfall (on the 30th). The 2019-2020 season began with a sizable snow on December 1st. And who could forget the 2018-2019 winter season beginning with a bang, the "Brinegate" storm that surprised and stranded commuters on November 15th.

Snow in North Brunswick, from November 16, 2018. (North Brunswick Police)

To be clear, we are not talking about a short-term, plan-your-week kind of weather forecast here. (In fact, mild temperatures will likely prevent any kind of wintry setup until at least mid-November.) Instead, I want to dig into some facts, statistics, and big storms based on our state's historical snowfall record.

To be even clearer, the "answer" to the headline of this article? On average, for most of the state, the first snow event occurs around mid to late December. Right around the actual Winter Solstice. (Keep reading for more.)

First flakes: When does snow season start in NJ?

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