New Jersey’s top 10 weather stories of 2020
I think we can all agree 2020 has been an unbelievably wild year, both in the atmosphere and beyond.
As usual, I have compiled a list of what I consider to be New Jersey's top weather stories of 2020. It's not necessarily the top 10 "worst" weather days of the year — there are some climate events and fascinating phenomena in this year's list too. Coming up with the rankings was particularly difficult this year, given the variety and number of candidate weather stories. (Frankly, you could make the case for any of the top four taking home the #1 spot.) And some significant happenings — like our soggy spring, unusually warm fall, and countless locally severe thunderstorms — didn't quite make the cut.
In putting together this list, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to our NJ State Climatologist (and my former boss), Dr. Dave Robinson. His office runs the NJ Weather Network, with over 60 weather stations throughout the state reporting conditions every 5 minutes. Dr. Robinson also writes comprehensive recaps of each month's, season's, and year's weather in New Jersey, which were tremendously helpful in recalling the details of each item on the list here. He also plans to compile a "top 10 of 2020" list, which I will link here when it's available. (I can't wait to see how our evaluations are similar and different!)
Other data and statistics also comes from the National Weather Service offices in Mt. Holly, NJ and Upton, NY, the Storm Prediction Center, the National Hurricane Center, and the National Centers for Environmental Information's Storm Events Database.
My thanks also to our outstanding news and digital teams, for reporting on each of these events both on-air and online. And for their unwavering support of my meteorological endeavors throughout the year too. They are the best in the business!
OK, on to the countdown!
DAN ZARROW: NJ's Top 10 Weather Stories of 2020
Cheers to more wonderful, wild weather in 2021!
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