Winter storm brings several inches of snow to southern New Jersey, Delaware
PHILADELPHIA - The Delaware Valley is dealing with its first winter storm of the season as a system packing a snowy punch and brought several inches of snow to southern parts of the Delaware Valley through the day Monday.
The National Weather Service has issued Winter Storm Warning for parts of southern New Jersey and Delaware, which went into effect at 4 a.m. Monday morning. It's expected to expire at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon. A Winter Weather Advisory is in effect for Philadelphia and areas along with I-95 corridor.
Temperatures plummeted to around freezing overnight, and have continued to drop slightly through the morning, turning rain into snow for most of the area by sunrise. Temperatures should hold in the 30s through the afternoon.
The massive return to school on Monday following the long holiday break caused some schools districts to cancel classes. You can find a complete list of school closures on FOX 29's School Closings page.
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Looking ahead, another round of wintry weather is possible for Thursday night into Friday. Stay with the FOX 29 Weather Authority and download the FOX 29 Weather Authority app for the latest forecasts.
For now, here's a closer look at what you can expect from Monday's wintry weather.
How much snow did we get?
The most snow had been forecasted to fall in parts of southern New Jersey and Delaware e throughout day Monday. Areas like Hammonton, Vineland, and Millville were forecasted to see between 6 and 10 inches of snow when all is said and done Monday afternoon. Heavy bands of snow bringing snowfall rates of around 2 inches per hour meant that some areas could see up to a foot of snow.
A little further to the north, in interior portions of South Jersey and Northern Delaware, forecasters had predicted between 3 and 6 inches of snow.
Philadelphia and areas along the I-95 corridor were only expected to see about 1-3 inches, while areas further north and towards the Lehigh Valley should only expect about a coating to an inch.
As of 4 p.m. Absecon, New Jersey had reported the most snow with 13 inches. Hamilton Township in Atlantic County also reported a foot of snow, while Northfield was just shy with 11 inches. Mays Landing and Egg Harbor Township each saw 10 inches.
Atlantic City International Airport reported 9.5 inches of snow while Hammonton saw more than 8 inches.
In Delaware, a foot or more was reported in Georgetown and Hartly, while Woodside reported more than 10 inches. Dover reported up to 7 inches earlier in the afternoon.
By about 2 p.m. Monday, the storm system began to compress and move further to the south as it began moving out of the area. The system should move out of the area completely by around 6 p.m.
Will coastal flooding be an issue?
Coastal flooding is also expected with high tides on Monday and Tuesday, and Coastal Flood Advisories have been issued for tidal portions of Atlantic, Cape May, and Sussex Counties. Those advisories are set to expire around 1 p.m. Monday afternoon. For more details on watches, warnings, and advisories, click on the map below.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has also issued a State of Emergency for five counties, including Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, and Ocean.
What will the rest of the week look like?
Temperatures are expected to dip into the teens and 20s for most of the area overnight and into Tuesday morning. Those frigid temps could cause a hard freeze in areas that saw snow.
Tuesday will be another cold day with a high of just 37 degrees. By Wednesday, temperatures will warm back into the mid-40s before we drop back into the 30s on Thursday.
Overnight Thursday into Friday is when we could see our next chance of snow. So far, we're looking at low temperatures in the 30s Thursday and Friday, which could contribute to bringing some more snow come Friday morning.
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