Editing Newton, New Jersey (section)

===Climate and weather===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Newton NJ town green blizzard of January 1905.jpg|right|thumb|Newton's town green and the county courthouse seen after the blizzard of January 1905]] -->
Because of its location in the higher elevations of northwestern New Jersey's Appalachian mountains, Newton, as well as the rest of Sussex County, has a cooler [[humid continental climate]] or [[microthermal]] climate ([[Köppen climate classification]] Dfb) which indicates patterns of significant precipitation in all seasons and at least four months where the average temperature rises above {{convert|10|°C}}<ref>The determination of Dfb (warm summer subtype) region is from Peel, M. C., Finlayson, B. L., and McMahon, T. A. (University of Melbourne). [http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification] from ''Hydrology and Earth System Sciences'' (2007), 11:1633–1644, doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. Accessed August 3, 2011.</ref><ref name="ThornthwaiteNAmericaClimates">Thornthwaite, Charles Warren. ''Atlas of Climatic Types in the United States 1900-1939: U.S. Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication 421''. (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1941); and Thornthwaite. "The Climates of North America: According to a New Classification" in ''Geographical Review'' (October 1931), 21(4):633-655.</ref><ref>[http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=771682&cityname=Newton%2C+New+Jersey%2C+United+States+of+America&units= Climate Summary for Newton, New Jersey], Weatherbase.com.</ref> This differs from the rest of the state which is generally a humid [[mesothermal]] climate, in which temperatures range between {{convert|-3|and|18|°C|°F|abbr=on}} during the year's coldest month.<ref name="ThornthwaiteNAmericaClimates" /><ref>See also: Hare, F.K. "Climatic classification" in Stamp, L.D., and Wooldridge, S.W. (editors). ''The London Essays in Geography'' (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1951), 111-134.</ref> Sussex County is part of [[Hardiness zone|USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6]].<ref>[http://www.arborday.org/treeinfo/ZoneInfo.cfm?ZipCode=07461&submit=Look+it+up%21 "What is my arborday.org Hardiness Zone?"], Arbor Day Foundation. Accessed March 31, 2013.</ref><ref>[http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/Downloads.aspx 2012 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (USA)], United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service and Oregon State University. (2012). Accessed August 3, 2013.</ref>

During winter and early spring, New Jersey in some years is subject to "[[nor'easters]]"—significant storm systems that have proven capable of causing [[blizzards]] or [[flooding]] throughout the northeastern United States. [[Hurricanes]] and [[tropical storms]], [[tornadoes]], and [[earthquakes]] are relatively rare. The Kittatinny Valley to the north of Newton, part of the [[Great Appalachian Valley]], experiences a [[snowbelt]] phenomenon and has been categorized as a [[microclimate]] region known as the "[[Sussex County Snow Belt]]." This region receives approximately {{convert|40|to|50|in}} of snow per year and generally more snowfall that the rest of Northern New Jersey and the Northern Climate Zone.<ref>[http://climate.rutgers.edu/stateclim/?section=uscp&target=NJCoverview The Climate of New Jersey], Office of the New Jersey State Climatologist. Accessed September 10, 2015.</ref> This phenomenon is attributed to the [[orographic lift]] of the [[Kittatinny Mountains|Kittatinny Ridge]] which impacts local weather patterns by increasing [[humidity]] and [[precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]].<ref>Carney, Leo. H. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/nyregion/weather-microclimates-big-variations.html "Weather; Microclimates, Big Variations."], ''[[The New York Times]]'', January 30, 2005. Accessed August 1, 2018. "In places like Hidden Valley and throughout the snow belt of northwestern Sussex County, a condition known as orographic lifting can increase humidity and precipitation."</ref>

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Newton have ranged from a low of {{convert|17|F}} in January to a high of {{convert|84|F}} in July. Average monthly precipitation ranged from {{convert|2.86|in}} in February to {{convert|4.76|in}} in June.<ref name="weather">[http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USNJ0359 Monthly Averages for Newton, New Jersey], The Weather Channel. Accessed October 13, 2013.</ref>

According to the [[United States Department of Agriculture|USDA]] [[Natural Resource Conservation Service]] [[soil survey]], the area receives [[sunshine]] approximately 62% of the time in summer and 48% in winter. Prevailing winds are typically from the southwest for most of year; but in late winter and early spring come from the northwest. The [[1994 North American cold wave|lowest recorded temperature was −26 °F on January 21, 1994]]. The highest recorded temperature was {{convert|104|F|C|abbr=on}} on September 3, 1953. The heaviest one-day snowfall was {{convert|24|in}} recorded on January 8, 1996 (combined with the next day, total snowfall was 40&nbsp;inches). The heaviest one-day rainfall—{{convert|6.70|in}}— was recorded on August 19, 1955.<ref>U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service, ''Soil Survey of Sussex County, New Jersey'' (Washington, DC: 2009).</ref>