The snowstorm set to hit New Jersey on Sunday is expected to bring widespread blizzard conditions in what forecasters are calling a rare event.
For the first time in 30 years, a blizzard warning has been issued for all 21 counties across the state, with snowfall totals forecast to reach at least a foot.
The combination of heavy snow and high wind gusts ranging from 40 to 45 mph, are expected to make the Sunday storm “significant and infrequent,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Zack Cooper.
“It’s hard to get true blizzards to occur inland,” Cooper said.
The blizzard may not turn out to be historic, Cooper said, but it could become the worst snowstorm to blast the Garden State in the past three decades, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said during a noon press conference.
New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson said that in order for the storm to be considered a “top 10″ event in New Jersey over the past century, it would need to produce at least a foot of snow statewide, with two feet or more in some locations, along with blizzard conditions and major coastal flooding.
“Dialing these conditions back a bit would still make it an impactful storm that might only come about every 10 years,” Robinson said.
According to Robinson, the Sunday storm could rival the major January 2016 blizzard, which brought huge snow drifts, massive flooding and several fatalities.
Cooper said residents should prepare for significantly reduced visibility, very difficult, if not impossible, travel, and blowing and drifting snow. Moderate coastal flooding may also occur along the Jersey Shore and Delaware Bay.
“Right now, we’re not anticipating some of the high tide issues we saw with Superstorm Sandy,” Sherrill said on ABC7 Sunday morning. “But we’re tracking that very, very closely so that we can keep people safe.”
A state of emergency went into effect at 12 p.m.
NJ Transit will suspend all bus service, light rail and Access Link services beginning at 6 p.m.
A commercial vehicle ban on highways was slated to begin at 3 p.m., along with speed restrictions of 35 mph.
Sherrill urged residents to stay off the roads.
“In our last storm, I said, ‘don’t travel if you don’t have to.’ Now, I’m saying, ‘don’t travel tonight.’ It’s dangerous. This is a very heavy wet snow,” Sherrill said in the press conference.