Safety tips to help you drive in the snow and ice
Winter driving can be hazardous, here are a few tips to help you survive the winter driving season.
Residents of Monmouth and Ocean counties should get their snow shovels and ice melt ready. The National Weather Service is predicting 4 to 5 inches of snow in portions of both counties between Dec. 13 and 14, then frigid temperatures that will turn any snowmelt into ice.
The weekend storm is expected to start between 10 p.m. and midnight Saturday, and then coat many places with 2 to 4 inches overnight, said Meteorologist Alex Staarmann of the National Weather Service’s Mount Holly Station. Some areas could see up to 5 inches, he added.
Closer to the coast, the storm could start as rain before changing over to snow, Staarmann said. The last flakes should fall by late morning or lunchtime on Sunday, he said.
The snow will be followed by plunging temperatures that will dip into the teens overnight Sunday, the meteorologist said. Wind chills will make the air feel more like single-digit temperatures, he said.
“It’s not going to be warm enough to melt any of the snow,” Staarmann said. “Maybe if the sun comes out during the day (Sunday), some of the roads will turn slushy, but then we’re going to drop (in temperature).”
Any melted snow is likely to refreeze Sunday night, he said.
Expected snowfall totals
Freehold: 4 inches
Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst: 4 inches
Long Beach Island: 2 inches
Long Branch: 4 inches
Mount Holly: 4 inches
New Brunswick: 3 inches
Toms River: 3 inches
Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 17 years. Reach her at aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.
