Snow leads to accidents and closures early Saturday but a thaw is on the way

Winter weather is causing issues for New Jersey drivers on the first full day of spring but a rise in temperature is expected to melt snow and ice and bring relief through the day Saturday.

Most areas in central and South Jersey received between three and five inches of snow Friday according to the National Weather Service.  Freehold and Whiting  received the most snow, with 7 inches reported, followed closely by several Burlington County communities, including Mt. Holly, Burlington Township and Moorestown.

Townsquare meteorologist Dan Zarrow expects temperatures on Saturday to approach 50 degrees, which will cause much of Friday's snow to melt away.

Early morning traffic on the New Jersey Turnpike was restricted to one lane in each direction between exits 2 (Route 322) and 3 (Route 168) after an accident involving a tractor trailer.

Lanes were closed to allow a crane to lift the jackknifed tractor trainer off the roadway. Long delays resulted in both directions on the turnpike.

A 45 MPH speed restriction on the entire length of the turnpike was lifted around 9 a.m, according to New Jersey Fast Traffic, which reported several spin-outs and minor accidents on still-slippery surfaces. New Jersey State Police, via Twitter, reported 132 crashes on Friday and 172 aid requests from drivers.

Icing kept the Shark River Bridge between Belmar and Neptune via Route 35 closed until 9:30 a.m. while crews treated the road surface. This followed an overnight accident on the Neptune side.

Snow on the roof of a car parked at Southern Ocean County Medical Center led to a pedestrian accident, according to Stafford police. They said some snow slid off the roof and onto the windshield of a 2014 Honda CRV operated by Teresa Butler, 59 of Ship Bottom, blocking her vision. As Butler tried to pull over, she struck Jane Masick, 66, of Manahawkin, pinning her underneath the vehicle. Masick was flown to the Jersey Shore Trauma Center.

There were still some delays on arrivals and departures from Kennedy and LaGhuardia Airports according to FlightAware.com but Newark Liberty and Philadelphia had no delays.

Bus service in South Jersey, which experienced 30 minute delays during Friday's snowfall, was back to normal on Saturday.

NJ Transit did not report any weather-related issues on Saturday.

Most areas in central and South Jersey received between three and five inches of snow Friday according to the National Weather Service.  Freehold and Whiting  received the most snow, with 7 inches reported, followed closely by several Burlington County communities, including Mt. Holly, Burlington Township and Moorestown.

Townsquare meteorologist Dan Zarrow expects temperatures on Saturday to approach 50 degrees, which will cause much of Friday's snow to melt away.