Latest N.J. snow storm could break 40-year record in Atlantic City, blanket state

Published: Monday, February 08, 2010, 4:44 PM     Updated: Monday, February 08, 2010, 8:39 PM

The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk
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ATLANTIC CITY -- Atlantic City is on track to break a 40-year winter snowfall record when a storm, which today is moving north and east across the Midwest, hits New Jersey. The blizzard, which is expected to hit the Garden State on Tuesday, may also have winds upwards of 25 miles per hour with gusts, according to the National Weather Service.

The combination of the southern jet stream, carrying moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern jetstream will cause snowfalls of at least 12 inches around the state, said Valerie Meola, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, N.J.

The blizzard on Friday and Saturday dropped more than two feet of snow in parts of southern New Jersey, but largely spared northern portions of the state. This coming storm is expected to blanket the region.

"In past winters we've usually had a couple of weeks between such large storms -- but this time we will only have a couple of days," Meola said.

Matt Rainey/The Star-LedgerLine workers from Atlantic City Electric Company work along Stone Harbor Boulevard Sunday afternoon to repair downed electric lines following snow storm that dumped 28 inches.

Snow is expected to start falling Tuesday afternoon but will not accumulate until Wednesday, when meteorologists predict about four to six inches to stick by the morning commute. Snowfall is expected to continue throughout the day and reach at least one foot in the state.

Parts of southern New Jersey are still digging out from the last nor'easter. Roughly 40,000 New Jersey residents in southern New Jersey remain without power today in the wake of that powerful storm. Atlantic City Electric is receiving help from PSE&G, Orange & Rockland Electric, Con-Edison, JCP&L to restore power to those customers.

"We expect to restore power by late Tuesday to the majority of our customers, but we do expect there may be customers in the Cape May area still without power through the week. We are making progress though, and the numbers are coming down," said Sandra May, a company spokeswoman.

Customers may call (800) 833-7476 to report power outages.

Previous coverage:

• Snow storm forecast calls for a foot or more throughout N.J.

• Two Gloucester Township boys are robbed of snow-shoveling money, police say

• About 50K southern N.J. residents still without electricity after massive snow storm

• N.J. Gov. Christie expects to declare state of emergency in wake of blizzard

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Enlarge Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger Line workers from Atlantic City Electric Company work along Stone Harbor Blvd. Sunday afternoon to repair downed electric lines following a heavy snowstorm which dumped as much as 28 inches of snow accross the region earlier. STONE HARBOR, 2/7/10 (Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger) Cape May, Atlantic and Gloucester counties dig out from major snow storm gallery (14 photos)