Powerful Storm System To Bring Largest Snowfall of Season to Date Before Coldest Weather of Season Sets In

Right on queue, a major winter storm greets New Jersey residents at the start of 2014. With clouds getting darker, winds picking up and temperatures dropping across Central Jersey including at GWC in South Plainfield, the stage is set for the first major storm of the winter of 2013-14. Two low pressure systems, one from the west, and another from the south, are expected to merge into a more powerful storm system, which is expected to deepen as it approaches the Garden State on Thurdsay night.

The result is expected to be anywhere from 6 to 8 inches across most of Northern New Jersey with some isolated areas in the Northwestern corner of the state receiving 10 inches. A Winter Storm Warning is in effect for much of the northern half of New Jersey with most of Central and Southern New Jersey under a Winter Storm Watch. A Blizzard Warning is currently in effect for portions of Long Island, and Emergency Management officials are mulling whether or not to close the Long Island Expressway when the storm’s full fury begins to impact the area later on Thursday night. Further north in Boston and New England, residents there are getting prepared for up to 15 inches of snow.

Currently at Greg’s Weather Center, the temperature is 26 degrees with winds out of the Northwest at 10 miles per hour. Barometer is falling at 29.88 inches of Hg, and the humidity is up to 85 percent. So, there’s plenty of cold and the moisture level is getting there. The forecast is calling for light snow developing during the afternoon, and getting more heavy as we move into the evening. Winds will pick up, and there will be blowing snow to produce near blizzard like conditions. On top of all this, the powerful low pressure system is going to drag down plenty of arctic air, and the high pressure left in its wake will usher in the coldest weather not only of the season to date, but also in the last several years. Low temperatures on Friday night and Saturday morning are expected to be ranging from below zero to the single digits across the Garden State.

This storm system will have a tremendous impact. According to the Weather Channel, the storm is expected to affect 1 out of 3 people in the United States before it is said and done. Local Emergency Management officials in South Plainfield have already left voice mails on the phones of residents asking them to have their cars off the roads to make it easier for plowing. State and county emergency management personnel are taking to social media, and advising residents on how to be prepared for the coming storm as well. So far this season, there has been six winter storms with five of them of the snow variety. There have also been clipper like systems moving through recently, and bringing snow showers and flurries. So, after the calm, quiet winters of the past two years, there has already been a noticeable return to the wintry weather in the 2013-14 season.