New Jersey
Winter storm watch issued for N.J. with chances for 10+ inches of snow increasing
Winter storm watches have been issued for most of New Jersey for a major snowstorm this weekend with increasing chances of snow totals topping 10 inches, forecasters say.
“Confidence continues to increase in a major winter storm impacting the region Saturday night through early Monday afternoon,” the National Weather Service said early Thursday. “Major impacts from accumulating snow are likely areawide.”
While the weather service has not issued a snowfall forecast map with specific amounts, the watches were issued because there’s now a more than 90% chance at least 5 to 6 inches of snow.
“Probabilities of exceeding 10 inches are 70-90%,” for most of New Jersey, the weather service said. “While this event remains a few days out, confidence is higher than usual for this range in significant impacts across the region.”
The current track of the storm may bring more mixing of sleet and freezing rain to southern New Jersey.
“This may hinder snow totals some for these areas, but significant impacts are expected nonetheless,” the weather service said. “Depending on how soon, and to what extent, mixing occurs, amounts could exceed 10 inches for this area.”
The winter storm watch starts at 7 p.m. Saturday and extends through Monday afternoon for the 16 counties covered by the weather service’s office in New Jersey.
The New York weather service office, which provides forecasts for Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties, said a winter storm watch was considered, but forecasters held off issuing it this morning “given the onset of the event is still around 72 hours out.”
Both weather service offices, however, urged residents to prepare for significant snow accumulations.
“Snow covered roads and reduced visibility WILL cause widespread travel disruptions,” the weather service said. “This has the potential to be a very impactful storm for much of the area.”
AccuWeather’s forecast has New Jersey in the center of a wide zone of 6 to 12 inches of snow blanketing the region.
Snow is expected to begin overspreading the state from southwest to northeast Saturday night with an extremely cold air mass in place.
Snowfall rates may quickly become heavy Sunday with rapid accumulations possible, as a storm system tracks northeastward off the coast.
The storm is expected to linger into Monday morning, likely affecting school schedules to start the week.
Ahead of the storm
Thursday will be a relatively mild day with highs in the 40s under mostly sunny skies, though winds could gust up to 25 mph.
Friday will continue the brief warmup with temperatures in the mid to upper 30s before an Arctic front arrives during the day.
Temperatures will plunge into the single digits by Friday night.
Saturday will remain bitterly cold with highs only reaching the upper teens to low 20s, making outdoor preparations for the storm quite uncomfortable.
Frozen forecast next week
After the storm system departs Monday, high pressure will build into the region with cold temperatures and breezy making any snow melt unlikely.
Temperatures are expected to remain below freezing across the entire state through Wednesday, with many locations only reaching the low to mid 20s during the day.
Monday night and Tuesday night are of particular concern, with low temperatures in the single digits statewide and wind chills potentially falling below zero during nighttime hours.
With significant snow cover potentially in place, winds could cause blowing and drifting of snow, and temperatures could potentially be even colder than currently forecasted, the weather service said.
Current weather radar
“Dangerous heat is expected to continue across much of our region through today, with several record highs likely to be challenged again. High temperatures are forecast to peak into the low to mid 90s across most of the area,” the National Weather Service said Friday.
A Heat Advisory is in effect until 8 p.m. across the state except for Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties.
PHILADELPHIA – Philip McPherson II, a 37-year-old from Riverside, New Jersey, was sentenced Thursday, June 11, to 78 months in prison for his role in a 2022 plane crash in Lehigh County that killed a student pilot, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Sentencing and charges for fatal Lehigh Valley crash
What we know:
United States District Judge John M. Gallagher sentenced McPherson to 78 months in prison, three years of supervised release, a $5,000 fine, a $4,300 special assessment, and $19,530 in restitution. Judge Gallagher also barred McPherson from working in the aviation industry.
McPherson pleaded guilty in October to involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, obstruction of an administrative proceeding, and 40 counts of serving as an airman without a certificate.
The backstory:
Court filings show that on September 28, 2022, McPherson took off from Queen City Airport in Allentown as the pilot-in-command with student pilot K.K. and crashed shortly after, resulting in K.K.’s death.
Prosecutors said McPherson acted with gross negligence, knowing he was not competent to fly as pilot-in-command. He had two prior crashes, nearly a third, and failed a reexamination for his pilot’s certificate in September 2021.
McPherson voluntarily surrendered his pilot’s certificate in October 2021 and let his Temporary Airman Certificate expire in November 2021, acknowledging his inability to meet FAA standards.
He admitted to flying with passengers without a valid FAA pilot’s certificate between October 12, 2021, and September 20, 2022.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, FAA, and Salisbury Township Police Department worked on the case, which was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert Schopf and Special Assistant United States Attorney Marie Miller.
What we don’t know:
Authorities have not released further details about the circumstances leading up to the crash.
The Source: Information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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On Sunday, June 14, a bell will ring at the Historic Olde Courthouse in Mount Holly, New Jersey, as part of a festival to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary.
In the summer of 1776, officials rang the same bell at the courthouse in Burlington City, the seat of Burlington County at the time, after the Declaration of Independence was signed.
The bell was moved to Mount Holly in 1796 when that city became the Burlington County seat.
Marisa Bozarth, Burlington County’s museum curator of history, said courthouse bells were rung in the 1700s to signify that something important was taking place.
“They would have rung it when there was a large court case of any significance, when the jury was coming back, so people knew to return to the courthouse to hear the verdict,” she said. “The bell was also rung any time there was any public reading of any sort of important document. It was their way to get the information out to the masses quickly.”
After the wording of the Declaration of Independence was finalized and the document was signed, every state received a copy so it could be shared with the people living there. At the time, some Burlington County residents wanted to remain loyal to Britain, while others supported the movement for independence, Bozarth said.
“I would think it was a bit of a scary time because when the Declaration of Independence was finally signed and then presented, it meant we were really going to war,” she said. “We were declaring our independence, but we weren’t officially an independent nation yet. It meant a scary time was coming because Britain wasn’t going to accept that and just let us walk away.”
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