The big snowstorm that meteorologists and social media users have been buzzing about for more than a week is only hours away from starting. And most forecasters agree this has the ingredients to become one of the biggest winter storms to hit New Jersey in at least five years.
Even though many snowfall projections from Friday have gone down by a few inches Saturday morning — because sleet and freezing rain is now expected over a wider geographical area — forecasters and government officials are warning the public that this will be a dangerous storm.
In addition to hefty snow accumulations, concerns are running high that layers of ice will form on roads, sidewalks, trees and power lines in many areas of the Garden State, making driving hazardous and sparking isolated power outages.
When it comes to specific predictions on how much snow will pile up, many forecasters are still calling for more than a foot in northern counties and a half-foot or more in central counties. And some say 18 or 20 inches isn’t out of the question in some spots.
Here’s a look at the latest snowfall predictions from AccuWeather, the National Weather Service, private forecasters, and several TV and radio stations in our region:
Forecasters from AccuWeather continue to predict 6 to 12 inches of snow and sleet across most of New Jersey and 3 to 6 inches in the far southern region of the state.
Although those numbers are lower than several other forecasters, AccuWeather still anticipates a significant winter storm with high impacts on New Jersey — including slick icy roads from sleet and freezing rain.
“Travel conditions will deteriorate rapidly with streets, highways and runways becoming snow-covered during the first hour or so of the storm in many cases,” AccuWeather noted Saturday morning. “Snowfall rates of 1-2 inches per hour at the height of the storm may overwhelm road crews’ ability to keep roads open.”
Latest snowfall forecast from AccuWeather.AccuWeather
Forecasters from the National Weather Service forecast office in Mount Holly, which covers most of New Jersey, has lowered its forecast snow totals by several inches because of stronger indications that there will be a prolonged period of sleet and freezing rain as warmer air pushes in on Sunday.
However, the agency is still predicting a big, impactful storm with as much as 11 to 15 inches of snow and sleet in northwestern sections of the state, 6 to 11 inches of snow and sleet in Central Jersey and 5 to 10 inches of snow and sleet across most of South Jersey.
The lowest snow totals, 4 to 7 inches, are expected in far southern New Jersey, where a lot of sleet and freezing rain is likely.
Latest snowfall predictions from the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly office for most of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.National Weather Service
The National Weather Service’s New York office, which issues forecasts for Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties, is calling for 8 to 12 inches of snow and sleet in the New York City metro region and many areas of northeastern New Jersey.
Bigger snow totals, as high as 10 to 15 inches, are predicted for northern Bergen and western Passaic counties.
Latest snowfall predictions from the National Weather Service’s New York regional office for northeastern New Jersey and the New York City metro region.National Weather Service
The NY NJ PA Weather forecasting company, based in Monmouth County, continues to call for four zones of snowfall totals in New Jersey, with some very high numbers up north:
- 12 to 20 inches of snow across far northern sections of New Jersey.
- 8 to 16 inches of snow and sleet in much of central New Jersey.
- 6 to 12 inches of snow and sleet in southwestern New Jersey.
- 4 to 8 inches of snow changing to sleet and rain in coastal Ocean, Atlantic and Cape May counties.
Latest snowfall predictions from New Jersey meteorologist Steven DiMartino, from NY NJ PA Weather.Steven DiMartino | NY NJ PA Weather
Meteorologists from News 12 New Jersey are still calling for 12 to 18 inches of snow in far northern New Jersey, 9 to 12 inches of snow across most of the rest of northern New Jersey, and 6 to 9 inches of snow and sleet in most of central and southern New Jersey, with lower amounts (3 to 6 inches) in southeastern sections of New Jersey.
Dan Zarrow, chief meteorologist for NJ 101.5 FM radio and the Townsquare New Jersey Weather Network, is still predicting heavy snowfall accumulations across most of North Jersey, ranging from 10 to 16 inches.
He is calling for 6 to 10 inches of snow and sleet across most of Central Jersey and the northern and western sections of South Jersey, with up to a quarter-inch of ice developing.
For far southern New Jersey, Zarrow is predicting snow changing to an icy mix, then to plain rain, with snow and sleet accumulations of 4 to 6 inches.
Joe Martucci, a New Jersey meteorologist at Cup A Joe Weather, is predicting 12 to 18 inches of snow across most of northern New Jersey, 7 to 12 inches of snow, plus a light coating of ice in most of central New Jersey and parts of South Jersey, and 4 to 7 inches of snow and patchy ice in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and coastal Ocean County.
Forecasters from ABC7 New York are still predicting 12 to 18 inches of snow in far northern New Jersey, 8 to 12 inches of snow and sleet across most of central New Jersey and southwestern New Jersey, and 4 to 8 inches of snow and sleet in the state’s southeastern counties.
Meteorologist Mike Masco from PIX11 News in New York is predicting 10 to 16 inches of snow across northern New Jersey, 8 to 10 inches of snow across much of central New Jersey and southwestern New Jersey, and 4 to 6 inches in far southern New Jersey.
Forecasters from 6abc in Philadelphia are predicting a widespread 10 to 14 inches of snow in northern New Jersey, 8 to 10 inches in north-central New Jersey and the Philly metro region, 6 to 8 inches in much of South Jersey, and 3 to 6 inches in far southern New Jersey.
Forecasters from Fox29 in Philly are calling for a widespread 12 to 18 inches of snow in northern New Jersey, 8 to 12 inches of snow changing to sleet in Central Jersey and in the Philadelphia metro region. Snow will likely change to rain in South Jersey, keeping snow totals lower in that region.
Current weather radar
