Snow and Sleet and Hail, Oh My!

In the wake of so much snow lately, it seems that kids’ efforts to wear their pajamas inside out and put pennies on the windowsills have paid off. Madison High School had a hectic schedule last week, with snow days on Monday and Wednesday and delayed openings Tuesday and Thursday (although this last delay was due to a planned staff development day).

On the national scale, a wide swath of Northeast America received anywhere from six to ten inches from the snowstorm on Sunday, February 2^nd, with New Jersey reporting a maximum of nine inches. Here in Morris County, around eight inches were seen. This led New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to declare a State of Emergency on Monday. Traveling was hazardous, almost 45,000 flights were canceled or delayed, and many schools, including most school districts in Morris County, shut down for the day on Monday.

This was only the first storm of four. A second storm hit the area Tuesday night, February 4^th. Again, six to ten inches had been predicted, this time with a heightened risk of freezing rain and black ice. A third storm was predicted for Sunday, February 9^th. Despite threats that it would be the worst yet, Morris County had only a light dusting of snow. Much of the Northeast had been affected by these three storms, including Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

A fourth storm (will it ever stop?) is coming on Thursday, February 13^th that will affect the entire East Coast, although its path is uncertain at the moment. The storm is predicted to begin Wednesday night or Thursday morning and will last the whole day. Snow is, of course, a concern, as well as strong winds that could reach up to 50 mph. Since this warning is coming so far in advance, it is hard to predict the exact type of snow this storm will bring, as well as the trajectory it will follow, so the best bet is for people to be careful and to plan for some type of storm this week.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2014/02/03/22554176-one-down-first-storm-of-week-dumps-snow-two-more-expected

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2014/02/live_updates_snow_and_traffic_news_for_morris_county_monday.html

http://www.dailyrecord.com/viewart/20140203/NJNEWS/302030010/morris-county-nj-school-closings

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/02/snow_totals_across_new_jersey_feb_3_storm.html

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2014/02/10/snow-storm-possible-thursday-for-southern-new-england/

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/Bolaris_Minor_snowstorm_coming_Sunday_more_beyond.html

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/02/christie_declares_state_of_emergency_in_nj_amid_snow_storm.html