The skies are clear Thursday morning, but more than 100,000residents in North Jersey are without power after a nor'easter blanketed the northern part of the state with wet, heavy snow, almost two feet in some areas.
Power companies are working to restore power to customers,but are unsure about when customers will get power back, estimating that it could take days.
"We have a lot of people out," said Orange & Rockland spokesman Mike Donovan. "A lot of jobs require reconstruction rather than repair."
Donovan said a number of trees have fallen on power lines, requiring them to be removed and sites cleared before any work can begin.
Orange & Rockland is reporting that 724 people in Passaic County have no power, while 14,975 people in Bergen County are without power.
As of 8:15 a.m., PSE&G has 19,369 customers in Essex County without power, 6,648 in Bergen County, 2,061 in Passaic County and 64 in Morris County, said Lauren Ugorji, spokeswoman for the power company. It is unknown when power will be restored.
None of the PSE&G outages are from last week's storm.
Jersey Central Power & Lights reports 49,300 customers in Morris County don't have power and 11,000 customers in Passaic County are without power still.
"It was a very severe storm again," said Ron Morano, spokesman for JCP&L.
The power company has 4,100 workers assembled and ready to restore power to their customers, some of which are still without power from last week's storm.
In the aftermath of the storm that led to a state of emergency in New Jersey, here's what to know:
How are the highways?
Roads remained somewhat treacherous early Thursday morning with several downed trees on Route 23 in Wayne, Route 19 in Clifton and Route 202 in Morris County. Route 80 west to Route 287 is seeing delays of an hour and a half, according to 511nj.org.
Several accidents have caused delays and have shut down lanes on some of the major highways in several areas including Route 80 west near exit 62 in Saddle Brookand at exit 58 in Paterson.
How much snow did we get?
Ringwood was hit hard with 20.5 inches of snow. Wayne had 19.5inches of snow. Parts of Bergen County fared better with 5.1 inches in East Rutherford and Englewood with 7.1inches. Ramsey, though, had 17.6inches and Mahwah with 16.8.
Cedar Grove in Essex County had around 16.8inches of snow. Butler had a whopping 25.5 inches in Morris County.
How did North Jersey handle the storm?
The snow made for some interesting situations through the region.
Ridgewood police found a 4-year-old girl wandering around alone and reunited her with her parents.
Firefighters also kept busy with blazes in Allendale and Pompton Lakes.
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Earlier in the day local officials reported few incidents.Dumont Police Chief Michael Conner said incoming calls to police headquarters were “super quiet” on Wednesday.
“I assume that’s because schools are closed, and traffic is light on the roads,” said the chief, who also serves as coordinator of the borough’s Office of Emergency Management. “It’s been quieter today than other days when we had great weather.”
In Nutley acouple of tree limbs fell, but Mayor and Public Works Commissioner JosephScarpelli was not aware of any downed wires or power outages when contacted.
“There’s no reason to be out on the roads,” he warned residents. “If you’re not home, get home. If you’re home, stay home.”
How does today's weather look?
Much better than Wednesday with temperatures in the lower 40s and clear skies.Cristantello said there's a slight chance of a rogue snow flurry at some point, but it remains unlikely.
Will schools be open Thursday?
School districts will need to clear out the snow, which could result in closures or delayed openings. Check with your local school district or see our school closures list.
What about malls?
All of the six major North Jersey malls – Westfield Garden State Plaza, Paramus Park, and The Outlets at Bergen Town Center in Paramus; Willowbrook Mall in Wayne; The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack: and Rockaway Townsquare In Rockaway – plan to be open for their normal business hours today. All of the malls closed early yesterday due to the storm.
Staff writers Keldy Ortiz, Joan Verdon, Melanie Anzidei, Jennie Coughlin, Kristie Cattafi, Monsy Alvarado, Marsha Stoltz, Rick Green, Dan Sforza, Will Lamb, Linda Voorhis, Jessica Presinzano, Ed Forbes, Liz Johnson, Elyse Toribio, Owen Proctor, Philip DeVencentisand Rodrigo Torrejon contributed to this report.
Email: jongsma@northjersey.com
