Time to put those snow shovels away? Well, not so fast. Watch video
With only one day remaining and no big snowstorms brewing in the forecast, February is going to turn out to be a big snowfall dud for New Jersey.
Statistics show most areas of the Garden State have gotten only four to five inches of snow this entire month -- three to four inches below the normal statewide accumulation of 8.1 inches -- and February is usually the snowiest month of the year.
In fact, this entire winter's snowfall total to date would be far below normal had it not been for the big blizzard in January. That storm erased the snowfall deficits New Jersey had in December and February.
Is winter finished with us?
Although the meteorological winter comes to a close on Monday (it runs from Dec. 1 through the end of February), the astronomical winter still has three weeks left. With only a scant amount of snow this entire month and warm temperatures on tap later this weekend and early next week, does that mean New Jerseyans can pack up their snow shovels and put their snow blowers into storage?
"I wouldn't say we're definitely free and clear yet. Any time in March there's still a possibility of getting significant snow," said Al Cope, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's regional office in Mount Holly. "We're not out of the woods yet in terms of snow."
Fellow meteorologist Sarah Johnson agrees.
"It's certainly possible we can still get more wintry weather," she said. "You can still get snowstorms well into the meteorological spring."
In the past, New Jersey has been hit with significant snowstorms in March, and even some light accumulations as late as April. Back in 1914, the state received 22.7 inches of snow in March, the most ever recorded during that month, according to data compiled by New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson at Rutgers University.
Just last year, New Jersey was blanketed by 11.7 inches of snow in March, more than seven inches above the normal statewide average of 4.3 inches for the month.
During the second week of March in 1993, New Jersey was hit with 10 to 20 inches of snow during a powerful winter storm, records from the National Climatic Data Center show. In March 1958, a big snowstorm dumped 10 to 20 inches of snow across most of New Jersey, with some pockets of 20 to 30 inches. Another storm dropped similar amounts of snow in March 1958.
And don't forget the "Great Blizzard of '88," which clobbered New Jersey, New York and most of the northeastern United States with huge amounts of snow during the second week of March in 1888. That was one of the most damaging blizzards in U.S. history.
Some months down, some months up
For New Jersey, the three-month meteorological winter of 2015 to 2016 got off to a dismal start in terms of snow. Most parts of the state got either no snow at all or just a dusting in December, when temperatures were soaring and daily record highs were being broken in droves.
Snowfall in January was on the light side -- until the monster blizzard hit near the end of the month, dumping a solid foot to two feet of snow over most of the Garden State and up to 30 inches in some spots. That was followed by a February sprinkled with several light dustings of snow and two big storm systems that ended up dumping heavy rain instead of snow.
The sparse snowfall in December and February was offset by the huge snowfall in January, pushing most of New Jersey above its normal snowfall accumulations during those three months combined.
"A lot of places got at or above their average annual snowfall with the one blizzard," Johnson said. "That happens some seasons. You can get one or two blockbuster snows and be at or above average for the year."
Here's a look at how much snow has fallen so far this season in three cities in different regions of the state.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.