Roads, power, NJ Transit — Thursday's essential snow information

Travel conditions will deteriorate quickly Thursday morning as snow spreads across the state, according to New Jersey 101.5 chief meteorologist Dan Zarrow.

"Snow will move in hard and fast with the heaviest snow bands that may exceed 1 to 2 inches per hour," according to New Jersey 101.5 Chief Meteorologist Dan Zarrow, adding that the cold ground will allow the snow to stick to all surfaces and accumulate quickly.

The precipitation will turn to sleet and/or freezing rain from south to north during the afternoon and then all rain in South Jersey.

In the rest of the state, "snow will turn to slush, ice will melt, and conditions will still be sloppy," he said.

Many school districts offering in classroom instruction have moved to all online learning on Thursday or cancelled all classes.

Dan Zarrow's Latest Forecast

STATE OFFICES

State offices are closed on Thursday including all MVC offices, according to the MVC's Twitter account. Appointments can be rescheduled on the MVC website.

HIGHWAYS

The DOT issued a Winter Weather Congestion Alert for Thursday and urged people to avoid unnecessary travel.

A commercial vehicle travel restriction including all tractor trailers (exceptions as listed in the Administrative Order), empty straight CDL-weighted trucks, passenger vehicles pulling trailers, recreational vehicles and motorcycles on the following highways will be lifted at 10 p.m. Thursday night.

I-78, from the Pennsylvania border to I-95 (New Jersey Turnpike)
I-80, from the Pennsylvania border to I-95 (New Jersey Turnpike)
I-195, from I-295 to NJ Route 138
I-280, from I-80 to I-95 (New Jersey Turnpike)I-287, from NJ Route 440 to the New York State border
I-295, from Exit 60 (I-195) north to the Scudders Falls Bridge (Pennsylvania border)
Route 440, from the Outerbridge Crossing to I-287

TRAINS/BUSES

NJ Transit and PATH expect to operate on a normal schedule on Thursday
PATCO will operate on a snow schedule on Thursday
SEPTA has not announced any service adjustments for Thursday.

POWER

JCP&L, PSE&G, Atlantic City Electric and Rockland & Orange said they are ready with extra supplies and additional personnel should power lines fall. Utilities customers to report outage immediately via their websites, apps or phone.

AIRPORTS

76 flights scheduled to depart Newark Liberty on Thursday and 87 arrivals have been canceled, according to FlightAware.com as of 8:45 a.m. on Wednesday afternoon.

CORONAVIRUS TESTING/VACCINATION CENTERS

The state mega site vaccination centers in Burlington County (Moorestown Mall in Moorestown), Middlesex County (NJ Convention & Exposition Center in Edision) and Morris County (Rockaway Town Square) are closed on Thursday.
Bergen County (Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford) will close at 10 a.m.
Atlantic County (Atlantic City Convention Center), and Gloucester County (Rowan College of South Jersey) will be open 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The community vaccine site at the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in the Somerset section of Franklin will be closed on Thursday
The Ocean County vaccination center at Toms River High School North has rescheduled appointments to Friday. Residents with appointments on Thursday MUST come at their same scheduled appointment time on Friday
Appointments for the Monmouth County vaccination center have been moved to Monday due to a delay in receiving vaccine.