Welcome to Winter: Here’s how much snow fell across NJ overnight

The Winter Solstice officially arrived at 4:20 a.m. Saturday. And as expected, it was snowing at a pretty good clip across New Jersey as the season changed.

Light snow and rain began across the Garden State late Friday morning, as a coastal storm system combined with an approaching clipper system to produce inclement weather. Once temperatures dropped Friday night, all precipitation turned over to snow. And some bands of heavier snow pushed accumulations past an inch, into "shovelable" territory.

Outside of northwestern New Jersey, this was the first measurable snowfall of the season. In the "snow zone" of NW NJ, totals overperformed the forecast due to 1.) heavier snow bands, 2.) the dry, fluffy consistency of the snow, and 3.) elevation.

The top snow total reported in New Jersey so far has been Sparta in Sussex County in Sussex County and Washington Township in Warren County, reaching 5.5 inches over 24 hours. Numerous other locations around the state picked up 2+ inches, even as far south as Monmouth and Burlington counties. (Keep reading for a full rundown.)

As of this writing, light to moderate snow continues to fall across northern and eastern portions of New Jersey. It looks like this last band of snow will clear the coast by mid morning (8 to 9 a.m.) Then clearing skies will meet a cold wind for the rest of the day.

Some roads are snow-covered and slippery, which may slow you down through the morning. Additionally, falling and blowing snow could cause sporadic visibility issues on the road throughout the day.

Looking ahead, New Jersey will enter a deep freeze through this first weekend of winter. Wind gusts to 30 mph will push temperatures downward into the 20s Saturday afternoon. Sunday will be a downright frigid day from start to finish, with morning lows in the teens and afternoon highs only in the mid 20s. I expect all of New Jersey to be stuck below freezing for a period of 48 to 72 hours, through Monday (at least). Time to bundle up.

The cold temperatures could have another interesting and exciting effect: The snow that fell Friday into Saturday may stick around for a while. There will be little opportunity for significant melting in the coming days, although abundant sunshine will help. That means there is a chance for at least some snow still on the ground for Christmas Eve (Tuesday) and Christmas Day (Wednesday). How magical!

In addition, we are watching the chance for some light wintry mix from our next storm system on Christmas Eve (Tuesday) morning. No additional accumulation or substantial travel issues are expected, but we could see some flakes flying around on Christmas. Even more magical!

Here are some selected snowfall totals from around New Jersey on this Saturday morning, as reported by the National Weather Service, CoCoRaHS, and listeners like you.

Atlantic County

Egg Harbor Township... Trace
Somers Point... Trace
Estell Manor... Trace

Bergen County

Waldwick... 4.3"
Oakland... 4.0"
North Arlington... 4.0"
River Vale... 4.0":
Montvale... 3.8"
Glen Rock... 3.8"
East Rutherford... 3.5"
Fair Lawn... 3.0"
Palisades Park... 2.5"
River Edge... 2.3"

Burlington County

Moorestown... 2.5"
Columbus... 2.0"
Burlington... 2.0"
Mansfield... 2.0"
Westampton... 1.6"
Rancocas... 1.5"
Mount Laurel... 1.5"
Willingboro... 1.5"
Medford... 1.5"
Leisuretown.. 1.3"
Bordentown... 1.0"
Evasham... 0.6"

Camden County

Pennsauken... 0.8"
Barrington... 0.7"
Mount Ephraim... 0.5"
Winslow... 0.1"

Cape May County

Ocean City... Trace

Cumberland County

Millville... 0.3"
Deerfield Township... Trace
Upper Deerfield... Trace

Essex County

Essex Fells... 4.5"
West Orange... 4.0"
West Caldwell... 4.0"
Livingston... 3.4"
Montclair... 3.2"
Maplewood... 2.6"
Newark Airport... 2.2"

Gloucester County

Washington Township... 1.5"
Mantua... 1.0"
Wenonah... 0.7"
Glassboro... Trace
Pitman... Trace

Hudson County

Harrison... 3.0"
Jersey City... 2.9"
Hoboken... 2.9"

Hunterdon County

Califon... 5.2"
Holland Township... 5.0"
Clinton... 5.0"
Lebanon... 4.5"
Flemington... 4.5"
Franklin... 4.5"
Frenchtown... 4.0"
Readington... 4.0"
Whitehouse Station... 4.0"

Mercer County

Hopewell Township... 3.5"
Ewing... 3.3"
Princeton... 3.2"
Pennington... 3.0"
Hamilton... 2.8"
West Windsor... 2.5"
Mercerville... 2.5"
Robbinsville... 2.5"
Yardville... 2.0"

Middlesex County

Metuchen... 4.0"
Cranbury... 3.4"
North Brunswick... 3.3"
New Brunswick... 3.2"
Highland Park... 3.0"
Middlesex... 3.0"
Woodbridge... 2.9"
Edison... 2.6"
East Brunswick... 2.5"
Iselin... 2.5"
Monroe... 2.5"
North Brunswick... 2.4"
Piscataway... 2.2"
Old Bridge... 2.0"

Monmouth County

Ocean Township... 2.5"
Colts Neck... 2.5"
Freehold... 2.5"
Marlboro... 2.5"
Millstone... 2.5"
Tinton Falls... 2.5"
Holmdel... 2.2"
Union Beach... 2.2"
Hazlet... 2.0"
Little Silver... 2.0"
Long Branch... 1.8"
Howell... 1.5"
Manasquan... 1.4"
Upper Freehold... 1.4"
Wall... 1.0"
Neptune... 0.7"

Morris County

Randolph... 5.3"
Green Pond... 5.3"
Jefferson... 5.3"
Mount Arlington... 5.2"
Schooley's Mountain... 5.1"
Mine Hill Township... 5.0"
Mendham... 4.8"
Kinnelon... 4.5"
Chatham... 4.5"
Rockaway... 4.4"
Butler... 3.9"
Budd Lake... 3.9"

Ocean County

Jackson... 3.0"
Point Pleasant Beach... 1.3"
Ramtown... 1.0"
Berkeley Township... 0.5"
Beachwood... 0.5"
Toms River... 0.4"
Manchester... 0.4"
Stafford Township... Trace

Passaic County

West Milford... 4.3"
Little Falls... 4.0"
Wayne... 3.5"
Hawthorne... 3.4"

Somerset County

Watchung... 4.0"
Branchburg... 4.0"
Franklin Township... 4.0"
Warren... 4.0"
Bernards Township... 3.9"
Hillsborough... 3.8"
Bedminster... 3.8"
Montomgery... 3.6"
Manville... 3.5"
Bridgewater... 3.5"
Green Brook... 3.0"
Peapack-Gladstone... 3.0"
Millstone... 2.0"

Sussex County

Sparta... 5.5"
Stockholm... 5.0"
Hardyston... 4.9"
Montague... 4.8"
Ogdensburg... 4.8"
Highland Lakes... 4.6"
Vernon... 4.6"
Wantage... 4.4"
Stanhope.. 4.3"
Newton... 4.0"
Lafayette... 4.0"

Union County

New Providence... 4.0"
Scotch Plains... 3.4"
Westfield... 3.3"
Cranford... 3.3"
Plainfield... 2.8"
Union... 2.8"
Elizabeth... 2.6"
Clark... 2.5"

Warren County

Washington Township... 5.5"
Hackettstown... 5.0"
Manfield... 4.9"
Mt Bethel... 4.9"
Greenwich Township... 4.5"
Stewartville... 4.5"
Blairstown... 3.8"
Frelinghuysen Township... 3.8"
Knowltown Township... 3.5"
Belvidere Bridge... 3.0"
Riegelsville... 3.0"

Dan Zarrow is Chief Meteorologist for Townsquare Media New Jersey. Follow him on Facebook for the latest forecast and realtime weather updates.