Death Toll Climbs As Killer Winter Batters NJ

Deaths from an intense snowstorm and wicked cold that descended in its wake have risen to 20 in New Jersey, the state Department of Health said Wednesday.

That is an increase from the 17 deaths reported last Friday, by the health department. That number did not include the deep freeze over the weekend.

The 20 deaths, from Jan. 24 through Feb. 9, is a preliminary number, said Dalya Ewais, the health department's communications director, and subject to change pending final determinations by forensic pathologists.

Ewais said the deaths happened throughout New Jersey, with "many" in the northern counties, and the people who died were ages 25 to 90.

"Most of these deaths are of individuals found outside (i.e., in a vehicle, outside a home, in an unheated porch, etc.)," Ewais said. Some were related to falls, and "a couple" involved substance use, she said.

She did not have additional details on those who died.

The stretch started with the snowstorm that began late Jan. 24 and dropped at least 8 inches of snow in much of the state and more in the northern part, where a 67-year-old Verona man died while shoveling snow on Jan. 25.

The storm was immediately followed by wickedly cold temperatures that stayed below freezing for most of the two weeks that followed. It prompted an extreme cold warning from the U.S. National Weather Service Mount Holly office, which warned of dangerously cold temperatures with wind chills of -10 to -20 degrees (and up to -30 degrees).

At those temperatures, frostbite and hypothermia can set in very quickly, officials have said.

The stretch of cold weather was the longest since a 16-day stretch from late December 2017 into January 2018, according to state climatologist David Robinson.

Code Blue shelters were open throughout the state and in most counties remain available through Friday, according to the state's Code Blue website, nj211.org/njcodeblue.

"As this cold spell continues, we know these extreme temperatures can be especially hard and even dangerous," Ewais said, "and (we) want all New Jersey residents to know there are safe places to go."

Code Blue alerts — triggered when temperatures are anticipated to be below 32 degrees — prompt the opening of shelters in New Jersey's counties. NJ211.org has links by county to Code Blue shelter information for those who do not have shelter.