Early on Saturday January 8, upper level low pressure over the Great Lakes began to dive southeastward toward the Middle Atlantic region. Surface low pressure also organized off the southern Delmarva Peninsula. Low pressure then gradually tracked northeast and away from the coast by the evening. With enough moisture and lift in the atmosphere, areas of light to moderate snow developed across the Delmarva and into southern New Jersey and southeastern Pennsylvania around daybreak. Light snow then spread northward into central New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley through the morning and afternoon. By late afternoon to early evening, areas of light snow gradually diminished from west to east across the region.

A Winter Storm Watch was issued at 334pm on Friday January 7 for the following areas: Salem, Gloucester, Camden, Northwestern Burlington, Ocean, Cumberland, Atlantic, Cape May, and Southeastern Burlington. A Winter Weather Advisory was issued at 334pm on Friday January 7 for the following areas: New Castle, Kent, Hunterdon, Somerset, Middlesex, Western Monmouth, Eastern Monmouth, Mercer, Berks, Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Philadelphia, Inland Sussex, Delaware Beaches, Cecil, Kent MD, Queen Annes, Talbot, and Caroline. A Winter Storm Warning was issued at 322am on Saturday January 8 for the following areas: Ocean, Cumberland, Atlantic, Cape May, and Southeastern Burlington. A Winter Storm Warning was issued at 830am on Saturday January 8 for the following areas: Kent DE, Inland Sussex, Delaware Beaches, and Caroline.

With temperatures mainly in the 20s to lower 30s during the event, all precipitation fell as snow throughout the region. Light to moderate snow developed within an hour or two of sunrise across the Delmarva. Some heavier bands of snow then tracked into southeastern New Jersey. Light snow spread into central New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania through the morning and early afternoon. Much of the snow for the area fell within the 6am to 1pm timeframe, but light snow persisted across the region into the late afternoon and early evening. Winds were not much of a factor with this event, as readings averaged between 5 to 15mph.

Snowfall totals were highest across southeastern New Jersey, especially through Atlantic, Cape May, and Cumberland counties. Accumulations of 4 to 7 inches were common in these areas. In fact, it was a record setting event for the date at Atlantic City, New Jersey where a record snowfall of 7.7 inches was measured. This total broke the old record snowfall for January 8 of 6.6 inches set back in 1988. Elsewhere across the region, snow totals ranged from 2 to 4 inches from the Delmarva northward into the Delaware Valley. Totals of around an inch were seen into central New Jersey and the Lehigh Valley. Based on airport observations and measurements received from observers, snow to liquid ratios with this event ranged between 12 to 1 and 21 to 1. A light, fluffy snow was seen throughout the region.

No major impacts were noted with this storm other than the usual traffic accidents associated with inclement weather. There were no reports of scattered power outages.

Information contained in this summary is preliminary. More complete and/or detailed information may be contained in subsequent monthly NOAA storm data publications.