Snowy Saturday: South Jersey Residents Should Try to Stay Home, State Says

TRENTON — Road crews are on the road for a second day in a row as New Jersey deals with a second straight day of snow.

"There has been considerable uncertainty surrounding this storm’s track," meteorologist Dan Zarrow said Saturday morning. He expects the track of the storm to bring slightly higher accumulations for the southern Jersey Shore, with Middlesex and Mercer counties added to the Winter Weather Advisory.

"This does look like a significantly snowy day for part of the Garden State," Zarrow said.

Speed was reduced to 45 mph on the Garden State Parkway between Cape May and Route 37 in Toms River as the snow began to fall.

Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Schapiro said "our guys are ready as always" and that crews are coming in on a rolling basis with the South Jersey staff first in on Saturday morning.

"We have a couple hundred spreaders on the road in South Jersey and we'll bring in equipment as needed as the storm progresses," Schapiro said.

While all roads get equal attention, Schapiro said special attention will be paid to roads along the coast where the heaviest snowfall is expected. He said they are monitoring conditions "so we're ready in case the storm heads west a little bit."

"It's a Saturday so folks don't need to go out. Stay home and do your chores tomorrow. But if you do have to go out, exercise patience, plan extra time for wherever you're going, slow down, be safe and if you see trucks out there spreading and plowing stay back and let them do their job," Schapiro said.

Schapiro said that salt applied in anticipation of Thursday night's snow remained, so no additional pre-treatment was needed for Saturday.

The Camden County Department of Public Works said it will dispatch its crews from their complex in Lindenwold to the county’s 12 winter maintenance districts only to the zones where they are needed. Camden County Freeholder Shin Angulo said that if you need to travel on Saturday, "always leave at least six car lengths behind our DPW vehicles while they work, and move any cars off the street and into a driveway while we continue our operations."

New Jersey Fast Traffic's Bob Williams said that even though the precipitation is white and not wet, state law requires headlights to be on when windshield wipers are in use.

"Remember to clean off your entire car, including the roof, or you could be subject to a fine possibly as high as $1,000," Williams said.

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