Overview
- NOAA’s State Climate Extremes Committee verified a 122.0-inch seasonal snowfall at High Point Park as New Jersey’s official record for the 1995–96 season, defined as July 1, 1995 through June 30, 1996.
- The confirmation was completed in March 2022 and publicly documented this week in a 60-page memorandum authored by National Weather Service official Chris Stachelski.
- Expanded eligibility for record sites, broader data sharing, and modern verification practices enabled a re-evaluation that was not possible under 1990s record-keeping rules.
- The High Point Park total was supported by a veteran COOP observer’s precise daily measurements and methods, which met SCEC standards for credibility.
- Regional data showed unusually high totals that season, with every New Jersey county at least 45 inches and many nearby locations over 100 inches, consistent with an active winter that included the Blizzard of 1996.