Where the snow piled up
Totals published on February 24, 2026 showed central New Jersey near the top of the list: 26.0 inches in Freehold, 25.0 in Middletown and 25.0 in Perth Amboy. The highest reading in the state was 30.7 inches. Closer to the city, Newark Airport measured 18.3 inches, Hoboken 18.5 and both Montclair and Kearny 19.0.
Across the river, Northeast Philadelphia reported 16.0 inches, Fox Chase 14.8 and Philadelphia International Airport 14.0. In the Pennsylvania suburbs, Norristown came in at 13.4, Willow Grove at 13.2 and Skippack at 12.8.
A roof full of snow is a slow leak test
Two feet of snow on a roof does not drain like rain. It melts from the bottom, warmed by heat escaping through the attic, and the water creeps down under the snowpack. On a colonial or split-level in central Jersey, that water reaches the chimney and has to get around it. Step flashing woven into the shingles and counter-flashing cut into the brick are what carry it past. If either has lifted, rusted or been patched with roofing cement, the water goes inside.
At the eaves the same meltwater can refreeze into an ice dam, which backs water up under the shingles. When the chimney sits low on the roof, near the eave, ice and the flashing joint can meet.
Heavy, wet snow is also dense. A drift packed against the uphill side of a wide chimney can hold meltwater against the flashing for days, and on a chimney without a cricket there is nothing to divert it. Where roofers once bent a single piece of metal around the base and sealed it with tar, that seal tends to crack after a few winters of sun and cold, and a storm like this is what finds the gap.
The chimney top in deep snow
Snow sitting on a crown for days keeps the concrete wet. A crown with shrinkage cracks, or one built flat without a drip edge, will take that water down into the brick. Freeze it overnight and the crack grows. A cap that kept rain out of the flue all year can be bent by sliding snow or by the weight of ice on the lid.
When the leak usually shows
The common pattern is a dry house during the storm and a wet ceiling on the third or fourth warm day after it. Stains near the chimney, water on the damper, a musty smell from the fireplace and white salt on the outside brick are the signs. A ceiling stain alone does not say where the water entered, because it can run along a rafter first, so it is worth tracing on the roof once it is safe to do so.
It also helps to know what a repair involves. Flashing that has only pulled away can often be reset and sealed into a fresh mortar cut. Flashing that has rusted through, or was installed without separate counter-flashing, is usually replaced. A crown with small cracks can be sealed; one that is crumbling or built without an overhang is rebuilt so water drips clear of the brick.
Want a professional look? See our leak repair service, or call (844) 468-2410 for a free written estimate.
