South Orange Area Residents Warned on Blizzard

Police and paramedics in Essex County alerted residents today on a new winter storm that is expected to dump up to 30 inches of snow on the area starting Monday afternoon, with high wind gusts and sub-freezing temperatures leading to whiteout conditions.

Police in North Caldwell warned of downed tree limbs and the collapse of flat roofs due to the heavy and wet snow. Montclair Ambulance Unit said its special operations center is monitoring the pending storm and will issue updates on social media and MVAU.org

The National Weather Service today issued a blizzard watch starting at 1 p.m. on Monday for the entire New York metropolitan area, including Essex, Bergen and other New Jersey counties.

The watch calls for at least one foot of snow in New Jersey, with up to two feet east of New York City. The storm will have north winds of 20-30 miles per hour, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour and one-quarter-mile visibility at times.

The worst of the storm will take place Monday evening into Tuesday, and the combination of heavy snow and high winds may lead to falling tree limbs and downed power lines, making some secondary and tertiary roads impassable.