A view east along Waverly Place in Red Bank Sunday evening. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With a hard pack of ice and snow remaining on local streets after a weekend blizzard, some schools on the Greater Red Bank Green announced delayed openings Monday.
The weather to start the week won’t do much to hasten the cleanup, with freezing temperatures lingering.
Shovelers, snowblowers and snow-happy kids took to the streets of Red Bank as a blizzard that began Friday night wound down early Saturday afternoon.
The storm left more than a foot of snow, and JCP&L reported five customers were without electrical service shortly after 4 p.m.
Check out the selection of photos from redbankgreen’s late-morning walkaround. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
With a blizzard expected to wallop the New Jersey coast starting Friday evening, Red Bank police are reminding residents to get their vehicles into driveways and public parking lots to allow plows through. More →
Another blizzard that wasn’t dumped up to two feet of snow in northern New Jersey but skirted the Greater Red Bank Green Tuesday, bringing lots of rain atop an early coating of about three inches of snow. NJ.com talked to forecasters about the bad call.
Meanwhile, a state of emergency declaration by Governor Chris Christie kept would-be motorists off the roads, making traffic control easy easy for Red Bank and Shrewsbury police when traffic lights at the intersection of Broad Street and Newman Springs Road malfunctioned in early evening, above.
Anticipating icy roads, area schools scheduled late starts Wednesday. The National Weather Service forecast showed daytime temperatures peaking at about 29 degrees, with a wind advisory warning of possible gusts of 45 miles per hour until 8 p.m. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
About two inches of snow lay on the streets of downtown Red Bank at around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday during the early part of what forecasters said would become a daylong blizzard.
Over the course of an hour’s slog on foot, redbankgreen encountered sleet that changed to moderately heavy rain.
Road brining at Cross Street and Woodbine Avenue in Little Silver signaled widespread storm preparation underway as towns on the Greater Red Bank Green girded for a blizzard Monday.
Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency Monday evening, meaning that government offices would be closed Tuesday and motorist are urged to stay off the roads for the duration of the storm and immediately afterward.
The likeliest snow total for the Greater Red Bank Green: 10 to 14 inches, according to the National Weather Service. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Entering the final week of winter 2017, the Greater Red Bank Green is in for a strong blast of winter, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a blizzard warning Monday morning.
After a daylong blizzard, residents of the Greater Red Bank Green awoke Sunday to about two feet of snow and flooding of low-lying areas, including South Ward Avenue and Grant Avenue in Rumson, above. By noon, the clearing of cars, roads and sidewalks was well underway, aided by cloudless skies and temperatures heading into the low 30s. Click “read more” for additional photos. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
NJ.com video reporter and Red Bank resident Brian Donohue and a colleague set up time-lapse cameras in the bread aisle of two supermarkets, including the SuperFoodtown on Broad Street, to capture a slice of the predictable, pre-blizzard stockup on staples Friday. Enjoy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Salt brine markings on Spring Street in Red Bank and dozens of kids on the ice at McCarter Pond in Fair Haven signaled the late arrival of true winter on the Greater Red Bank Green Thursday.
For emphasis, Mother Nature is planning a blizzard that’s expected to bring “extremely dangerous” travel conditions and possible power outages as a result of heavy wet snow, strong wind gusts and flooding, the National Weather Service forecasts. The region is expected to get about a foot of snow between Friday night and early Sunday morning, the NWS says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Broad Street in Red Bank following a December, 2010 snowstorm. Below, a forecast map from the National Weather Service indicates a snowfall of 14 inches is “most likely” in on the Greater Red Bank Green this weekend, but could range as high as 22 inches. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The National Weather Service issued a weekend blizzard watch Thursday morning for the region that includes the Greater Red Bank Green.
Late in the morning, crews from the Red Bank public utilities began laying salt brine on every street in town in an effort to keep the roads safe and delay the start of plowing efforts, DPU director Cliff Keen told redbankgreen.
“I think we’re ready,” said Keen, who’s overseeing his first snow challenge since replacing Gary Watson as department head last month. Most of the department’s staff was also on board for the 2010 blizzard, he notes.
With the highly variable weather seen on the Greater Red Bank Green in recent days – bitter cold, snow, rain and a rapid snowmelt with temperatures in the mid-40s – the owner of the kayak seen on Broad Street in Red Bank Saturday might be forgiven for not knowing what’s next.
Well, what’s next is a forecast better for iceboating than kayaking, as peak daytime temperatures remain below 30 degrees for the next few days, with the exception of Wednesday, when they’ll top off at about 36 degrees, according to the National Weather Service. Nighttime temps aided by wind-chills, will again be frigid. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
At the risk of stating the obvious: it’s cold outside. This screengrab from the National Weather Service website showed a temperature of zero, with a wind-chill of minus 21 degrees, shortly before 7 a.m. Friday on the Greater Red Bank Green. The NWS has a wind-chill advisory in effect until 11 a.m. Daytime temperatures are expected to peak at about 17 degrees. (Click to enlarge)
A view west on River Road in Fair Haven Tuesday as snowfall in the blizzard that wasn’t ended. Area schools were scheduled to reopen Wednesday on delayed starts as temperatures hovered in the single digits, when factoring in wind chills. Some roads will be slippery, local officials caution. Temps are expected to peak at about 32 degrees during the day, according to the Weather Underground. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
The blizzard that wasn’t still left a mess ‘o snow. And even with the lifting of a statewide travel ban Tuesday morning, non-binding requests by local officials that residents stay off the roads appeared well-heeded. A noontime spin through the Greater Red Bank Green found county roads mostly clear, but local streets somewhat difficult to navigate.
By 1 p.m., the snowfall had ended, the sun was burning through a haze, and temperatures appeared headed to a balmy 30 degrees – if the forecast can be trusted. And local residents took to their shovels and sleds, just as they would after any snowstorm. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Winds whipped the flags at Elks Club #233 at about 4:15 a.m. as a heavily hyped “blizzard” dropped the first half-foot of a previously expected two feet of snow on the Red Bank region Tuesday.
But weather forecasters downgraded the event early Tuesday from a blizzard to a ‘winter storm,’ and now expect just three-to-five more inches of snow as snowfall tapers off by 3 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
No Joe’s Café was as quiet as all other businesses in downtown Red Bank at 4 a.m. Tuesday, despite having touted a plan on its Facebook page and a sign in its window to stay open for 24 hours during the blizzard to serve emergency responders and snowplow operators. There was no immediate explanation for the change, but it reminded us of an old bit by comedian Steven Wright. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
It was cold, eerily quiet and snowfall-free in downtown Red Bank at about 7 p.m. Monday. But don’t be fooled, says the weatherbot. Even as redbankgreen was taking its evening constitutional, the National Weather Service was issuing this statement:
7 PM Update: While portions of the region are seeing a lull in the precipitation currently, snow bands from the main system are just now starting to move into the region. Once these heavier bands move in through the evening, the snow is expected to continue through the overnight hours into tomorrow morning.
Please continue to take this storm seriously. We haven’t yet begun to see the worst conditions.
Well, alright then. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
While other residents of the Greater Red Bank Green were in panic mode in the bread aisles of supermarkets, some were preparing for the looming blizzard by stocking up on their favorite beverages. NJ.com’s Brian Donohue caught up with some of them at Spirits Unlimited in Middletown, home of the famous “evil clown” sign.
For days after the December 26, 2010 blizzard, the English Plaza parking lot in Red Bank, above and below, remained closed, in part because of vehicle strandings. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Apparently hoping to head off a repeat of problems seen in the 2010 blizzard, Red Bank officials said they would barricade downtown streets to traffic Monday night.
According to an alert issued by the borough early Monday afternoon, officials plan to seal off the English Plaza and White Street municipal lots at 10 p.m. and to shut down Broad Street at 1 a.m. Tuesday, early into a storm that forecasters expect to last about 30 hours and drop more than two feet of snow on much of the Northeastern United States.
A man laid down rock salt in Red Bank, a woman loaded up on the stuff in Little Silver, and plows stood at the ready in Sea Bright as the Greater Red Bank Green braced for a blizzard Monday. A hazardous weather alert from the National Weather Service warned of white-out conditions, high winds, coastal flooding and a possible two feet or more snow over a 30-hour period through 6 p.m. Tuesday. The general consensus on safety: don’t drive if you don’t have to. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Scenes from the December 26, 2010 blizzard that paralyzed Red Bank for days. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
We’ll update this post at the top as new cancellations come in.
• Rumson: No trash collection Tuesday. No school, either. And parks are closed at dusk today.
• Red Bank: The Count Basie Theatre presentation of ‘The Buddy Holly Story,’ scheduled for Tuesday night, has been moved to a matinee performance on Saturday, April 4, 2015 at 3pm. All tickets will be honored.
The bread shelves at the SuperFoodtown in Red Bank were nearly bare Sunday afternoon as locals stocked up in anticipation of a blizzard expected to sock the region Monday and Tuesday.
The National Weather Service expects light snow Monday morning, but has a blizzard warning in effect from noon Monday through 6 p.m. Tuesday, with whiteout conditions and accumulations expected to total 18 to 28 inches, with higher drifts as a result of strong winds.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, Red Bank had cancelled trash and recycling pickups scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday, and was reminding residents to get their vehicles off the street once snow starts falling. Details here.
Be sure to check with redbankgreen and our Facebook page for updates, including closings and reschedulings. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Brine tracks laid down Tuesday in Red Bank’s Marine Park in preparation for a possible big storm turned out to be an unneeded precaution. The storm blew past most of New Jersey early Wednesday en route to eastern Canada, where residents were bracing for the biggest blizzard in a decade. On the Green, residents woke to find their cars covered in white, but the streets and sidewalks clear of snow. (Click to enlarge)
It’s spring. What are we to make of this talk of a “coastal monster” of a storm, or “blizzard bomb,” or whatever the weather worrywarts are calling it?
The latest consensus forecast appears to be that our region might take a “glancing blow” from a brewing northeaster Tuesday night, with a few inches of snow, but “a worst-case scenario of an epic blizzard [is] still not off the table,” says Slate.
We’re with the Fair Haven cops: Stay off the new sod, snow. In fact, stay off the old sod, too. (Click to enlarge)