As storm strengthens Thursday morning, NJ braces for heavy snow, gusty winds

After a day of premature spring temperatures in the 60s, Central Jersey has been plunged into the worst storm of an otherwise boring winter season.

Near whiteout conditions are predicted for some areas, and at the height of the storm, snow could fall at a rate of two to four inches per hour.

“Every entrance will be cleaned and snow removal in place starting at 4 a.m.”, says Paula Kelliher, director of marketing. The fact that it’s moving in a bit faster may mean more rain on the front end before the changeover, but as the storm rapidly intensifies off the coast, it will pull down lots of cold air and lead to convective banding of snow.

The core of the storm will occur between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. “Unfortunately this is the kind of snow that can cause power outages, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens”.

“This year, most of the snowstorms in northern New Jersey have been followed by rain or warmer weather, but that’s not going to be the case here”. “Thundersnow” is likely in southern New England and possible in southern New Hampshire. Amounts will taper to 4 to 8 inches in most of the White Mountains, with less than that farther northwest.

After about 9 a.m., snow intensity will calm with light to moderate snow showers expected through the afternoon.

If the snow stops early enough on Thursday, crews should be able to clear the roads by Friday morning when life should return to normal.

It now looks as though the storm will slow down just enough to dump at least six inches of snow. South wind 3 to 7 miles per hour.

Parts of the Northeast megalopolis should see accumulating snow beginning Wednesday night. The storm will bluster with a north wind 13 to 20 miles per hour and gusts as high as 38 miles per hour.

A classic nor’easter on the way, hence the winds out of the northeast for most of Thursday, turning to the north by evening. That’s not the case to the north where Allentown was only in the 30s at the same time.

Coastal flood advisories are posted for Thursday during the time of high tide mid-morning and mid-evening.

Times of high tide on the South Shore, Cape and Islands Thursday.

Hour-by-hour: When will the storm leave? Having said that, we got you covered as always, stick with WBZ-TV and CBSBoston.com for updates!