While a massive snowstorm expected Wednesday could hit much of the state with more than a foot of snow, it won’t start to crank up until the afternoon or evening and will be over shortly after sunrise on Thursday, especially, say predictors.
Expect snow to start around 4 or 5 p.m. in Central Jersey and near 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in North Jersey, says AccuWeather.com meteorologist Nicole LoBiondo.
That is very similar to what Sean Rowland of WeatherWorks, a private forecasting company based in Warren County, says. Snow will start to fall in Central Jersey by mid-afternoon before penetrating into North Jersey in a few hours.
“If you’re coming towards New Brunswick, we’re looking at a starting time between 2pm and 5pm. And then if you’re heading towards the New York (state) border, it might start an hour or two after that, so it’s usually mid to late afternoon for a good part of the state, ”Rowland said.
(NOTE: The National Weather Service has released a new snow total map shown below at 2:38 pm on Tuesday 30 to 30 inches for North Jersey, lower than predictions earlier in the day which were 18-24 inches. South Jersey could do little see no accumulation so far either.)
In South Jersey, the storm will start sometime between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., although the coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean and Cape May will only see rain during the storm.
While North Jersey gets all the snow for the duration of the storm, the key to the storm in Central Jersey will be where the rain / snow line begins.
LoBiondo notes that it will run from southwest to northeast, with cities on the north side of the line getting mostly snow and cities south of the line potentially turning to mixed snow and sleet precipitation around 8 or 9 p.m.
“We will probably start with snow in Trenton, while in Toms River precipitation will likely fall as rain,” LoBiondo said.
The winter storm is expected to hit New Jersey from Wednesday.
The storm is expected to continue through the night before decreasing from west to east, starting around 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., as the center of the low-pressure system will be mainly offshore by then, she said.
According to LoBiondo, there may be some sustained gusts until about 11 a.m. or 12 noon.
Rowland also said the storm is nearing its end by daybreak on Thursday.
“We’re probably still accelerating around sunrise on Thursday, but we’re about to finish,” he said. “So we won’t have much going into the day on Thursday.”
The winter storm should sweep through New Jersey on Thursday morning.
Jeff Goldman may be reachable at [email protected]. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Katie Kausch can be reached at [email protected]. Tell us your coronavirus story or send us a tip here.
Thank you for relying on us for the journalism you can rely on. Consider supporting NJ.com with a subscription.