New Jersey Gearing Up

TRENTON, N.J. – Road crews around the state are gearing up Thursday for a winter storm expected to drop as much as 10 inches of snow in northern New Jersey on Friday.

The National Weather Service issued a winter storm watch for Warren, Sussex, Morris, Passaic and Bergen counties for Friday morning through late Friday night.

Forecasters expect the storm won’t hit until morning rush hour, with the worst weather coming late Friday afternoon.

“It looks like northern Jersey is definitely going to be hardest hit with the snow,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Wanton. He said the southern half of the state would mostly see sleet and freezing rain.

State road crews said they were prepared to handle whatever the storm brings.

“We’re in a pretty good situation,” said Joseph Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, which also operates the Parkway.

“All of our equipment is ready to go; it’s not all worn and torn from an entire season of snow,” he said. “We’re pretty much just under full capacity for our salt.”

Alan Hicks, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said Newark Liberty International Airport was prepared with 500 tons each of salt and sand, as well as thousands of gallons of deicing fluids and snow removal equipment.