A Look Back At Key Moments During Historic Storm

Saturday was a historic day for weather in the Garden State.  The second nor’easter of the season produced record snowfall for the month of October in New Jersey as well as the rest of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.  I had to work on Saturday, but did manage to take note of some key moments from this storm.

Saturday, October 29th

7:30 AM–Woke up to find conflicting forecasts.  Accu-Weather calls for 2 to 4 inches while the National Weather Service is calling for 4 inches.  The Weather Channel’s Weatherscan is calling for 5 to 8 inches in Newark, and 6 to 10 inches in Somerville.

8:30 AM–Head out to work, and it is raining steadily.

10:38 AM–Went outside to shoot some video of weather conditions at work in Edison, New Jersey.  Rain coming down pretty hard.

11:33 AM–Took a look outside at work, and noticed that the rain has changed over to snow.

12:13 PM–Went outside to shoot video again, and the snow is coming down in earnest.  Took a walk around the building, and the conditions are also very windy and cold.  Co-workers are in disbelief that it is snowing.

12:26 PM–Came back inside to discover that the National Weather Service is calling for 6 to 10 inches of snow in Plainfield, but only 2 to 5 inches of snow in South Plainfield.  Plainfield gets its forecast from NWS in Upton, New York while South Plainfield gets its forecast from NWS in Mount Holly.  I live in South Plainfield, and am located some 5 minutes from Plainfield.

1:30 PM–Power goes out at my home in South Plainfield.

2:28 PM–National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, New Jersey upgrades the Winter Weather Advisory to a Winter Storm Warning for Middlesex County.  Northwestern Middlesex County is now expected to get up to 8 inches of snow.

2:56 PM–Went outside to shoot video again.  The snow is still coming down very hard.  It is building up on the trees, which are now wilting from the weight of the wet snow and leaves that haven’t fallen off yet.

4:12 PM–Went outside to shoot more video.  The snow has transitioned over to sleet.  The precipitation rate has lessened a bit.

7:15 PM–Getting ready to go home.  Had to clear snow from my car.  The ground is a slushy mess.  There was plenty of heavy, wet snow on my car.

7:54 PM–Arrive at home to see that the power is still out.  My mother and brother indicate that they heard trees snapping a lot during the first few hours of the storm.  I also learn that New Jersey is under a state of emergency.  Power is out to much of the town from Maple Avenue into Plainfield Avenue.  Many homes and businesses are in the dark.  Traffic lights are out, and no police are out directing traffic.

10:00 PM–Getting ready to go to bed.  Power is still out.

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Sunday, October 30th

3:00 AM–Wake up in the middle of the night.  Power is still out.  Very hungry and very cold.  Had to put on my winter jacket and hat.  My head feels very cold.  Get an extra blanket, and also have an energy bar as well as some dark chocolate.  Temperature in my room is 61 degrees.  It is normally 78 to 83 degrees depending on the time of year.

6:30 AM–Wake up again to find that the power is back up.  Power came back online at about 5:30 in the morning.  Temperature drops to just above freezing for a low.

8:45 AM–Head out to work.  There is a nice blend of colors with the white snow, fall foliage, blue sky and sun.