Let it snow!
Erica Florentine &
Chris Sheldon
JERSEY SHORE — It was already beginning to look a lot like Christmas this past weekend, as the first official snowfall of the year dumped more than 1 and one-half feet of snow along the coast, here.
Meteorologist Tom Kines, of AccuWeather, a Pennsylvania-based weather forecasting and monitoring service, said northern Ocean County received 18 to 20 inches of snow during the weekend storm.
Mr. Kines said that amount is one of the highest in the region’s history, and is “definitely in the top three” snowfall counts ever, for the month of December, in this area.
“It’s highly unusual to have that much snow this early in the season,” Mr. Kines said.
The storm grew out of a low-pressure system that originated in Texas on Wednesday, Dec. 16, and moved northeast across the Florida panhandle and up the East Coast. Mr. Kines said the storm brought record rainfall to parts of the Gulf Coast region.
Mr. Kines said a chilly mass of weather coming down from New England mixed with the low-pressure system coming up the coast to create the record-setting snowfall that swept the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, starting around Virginia.
The meteorologist said the storm dropped almost 2 feet of snow on Philadelphia and 16 inches on Washington, D.C., before it arrived in New Jersey.
The storm hit Ocean County around 6 a.m. on Saturday morning, and did not subside until noon
on Sunday, Mr. Kines said.
The storm forced all area schools to close for the day on Monday, though all districts were up and running again by Tuesday.
Point Pleasant Beach saw its fair share of the powdery white stuff over the weekend, but Point Pleasant Beach Police Chief Daniel DePolo, who is also the borough’s emergency management coordinator, said there were only a few minor traffic accidents due to the storm.
The chief said there were no injuries in any of the accidents, as many of the drivers were not traveling fast enough to be hurt.
He said there were more reports of people getting their vehicles stuck in the ice and snow, especially with “cars that should not have been out, and even smaller, four-wheel drive vehicles.”
The chief said there no major first aid calls in the borough during or after the storm, although one resident fell and banged his head after slipping on a patch of ice.
Chief DePolo said no additional officers were needed over the weekend, and residents were urged to keep off the roads and stay home over the weekend.
Chief DePolo added a reminder that borough ordinance requires residents to remove snow from their sidewalks within 12 daylight hours of a snowstorm.
He acknowledged that the ordinance is not strictly adhered to, or enforced, but said it should act as a reminder for residents.
Chief DePolo said things went very well over the weekend, considering the “near-blizzard conditions,” and noted there were no critical or out-of-the-ordinary events in town.
Point Pleasant Beach Department of Public Works Superintendent John Trout said the borough took the “necessary mechanical precautions” with the town’s plow and other snow removal vehicles, and made sure they were all working properly prior to the weekend storm.
He said the department did not place salt or sand on any of the borough’s roads before the storm, and usually does not do so.
Mr. Trout said no additional workers were called in over the weekend, but snow removal began early Saturday, at 9 a.m., and did not stop until 3 p.m. on Sunday.
He said the borough’s public works employees returned to work on Monday at 7 a.m. and worked throughout the day.
As of Tuesday, Mr. Trout said public works was still working to remove more snow from borough roads. He said public works was trying to improve the roadways and make roads and intersections wider.
Mr. Trout said, if the temperature continues to remain in the low 30-degree range and upper-20s overnight, as it has been, it will take a long time for all the snow from this weekend’s storm to disappear, ensuring a white Christmas in the borough.
He added that the department of public works spread about 55 tons of salt on borough roads over the weekend. He said using salt is just as effective, if not more effective, than using a salt and sand mix, as some other municipalities do.
In Lavallette, the public works department did a great job of removing the snow, according to Mayor Walter LaCicero, who praised the department during Monday night’s borough council meeting.
Lavallette Public Works Superintendent Gary Schlosser said, like Point Pleasant Beach, the department prepared for the storm ahead of time, by having mechanics inspect each truck, plow, plow blade and loader for proper operation.
Mr. Schlosser said the department purchased 10 tons of salt prior to the storm, as well.
“Two-thirds of the department’s workforce worked all day Saturday and the better part of Sunday, plowing, clearing intersections and cleaning borough hall, the police department, Lavallette Elementary School, [and] Lavallette First Aid and Fire Department parking lots,” Mr. Schlosser said.
“As always, the Lavallette Public Works employees did an excellent job,” Mr. Schlosser added.
Lavallette Police Department Chief Colin Grant, who doubles as the borough’s emergency management coordinator, also commended public works, and said the police and public works departments have a “great working relationship,” especially when dealing with major weather events like the weekend snowstorm.
Chief Grant said there were no traffic accidents in the borough as a result of the storm, and he said the department had no emergency calls.
“We had quite a few motorists who did choose to venture out, but the population is down in the winter, and most people are smart enough not to go out,” Chief Grant said.
He said one extra officer was added over the weekend, and the police department had three officers on duty at all times on Saturday and Sunday.
He said there was no beach erosion or flooding in the borough as a result of the snowstorm.
Chief Grant said a storm like this weekend’s is a rare event.
“We haven’t had a storm like this in three years,” he said.
In Point Pleasant Borough, the town’s public works department was hard at work throughout the weekend.
Road Department Superintendent of Public Works Jude Walker said the borough’s plow and salt trucks were dispatched beginning at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning. The trucks plowed borough streets until 5:30 p.m.
“We had trucks out salting the whole time,” Mr. Walker said.
Six men from the public works department were brought in at 9 a.m. on Saturday, according to Mr. Walker. By 2 p.m. that day, he said the entire public works crew was brought in, numbering about 24 workers.
When all was said and done, some of the men were out working on the roads for about 30 hours, each, this past weekend, Mr. Walker said.
On Monday, Mr. Walker said the public works crew was back at it, attacking the roads, once again, with plows and salt.
He said the biggest roadblock problems in Point Pleasant were at major intersections, and in an area of town he referred to as “the hills,” which is located on Herbertsville Road, near St. Martha’s Roman Catholic Church.
Earlier this week, Mr. Walker said his crew would be attempting to get the problem areas fixed throughout the week. He said he was hopeful that the sunny days early on in the week would lead to the melting of the ice and snow piles, making cleanup much easier.
In total, Mr. Walker said his crew of workers did not ultimately have to use an overwhelming amount of salt for the size of the town. The grand total, he estimated, was around 100 tons.
When asked how this most recent snowstorm compared to storms in the past, Mr. Walker said it compares closely with the storm the borough was hit with during Presidents’ Day weekend in 2003, and is almost exactly like the legendary 1996 blizzard.
“It seemed to follow the same track,” Mr. Walker said. “It was rough.”
Mr. Walker said he would describe last weekend’s storm as a “true blizzard.”
He said the most difficult part of the two-day storm and ensuing cleanup was the work done on Saturday, when the snowstorm began. While borough trucks plowed through the snow, the storm continued to blow through town, moving the snow around and making the streets look as though they had never been plowed, Mr. Walker said.
“Everything was completely covered,” he said.
As of mid-week, the department’s main goal was to clean up the intersections and work to expose the town’s storm drains.
When questioned earlier the week about how residents should deal with the other storms that may hit later this season, Mr. Walker said residents should avoid parking on the streets, when at all possible, when snow is expected.
“It’s the same old thing — if you can park in the driveway, park in the driveway,” Mr. Walker said.
As far as the Point Pleasant Police Department was concerned, there was nothing too out of the ordinary this past weekend, according to Chief Larry Williams.
He reported earlier this week that there were a total of 10 traffic accidents between Saturday and Sunday.
“Fortunately, there were no reported injuries,” Chief Williams said.
The chief said the accidents were all due to “slipping and sliding” and required “general assists” from police.
Chief Williams said there were no abnormal emergency calls to police due to the snowstorm.
“Nothing that I can think of that were related to the weather,” he said.
Chief Williams said no additional police officers were brought in to assist during the weekend’s storm.
“We handled it with the police officers we had on staff,” the chief said.
In Mantoloking, Chief Mark Wright said the police department was not called in for any emergency incidents related to the snowstorm last weekend.
The only issue in Mantoloking, he said, was along the stretch of Route 35 between Route 528 and Downer Avenue. According to the chief, the mailboxes of many homes along that stretch were knocked down while workers from the state’s Department of Transportation [DOT] plowed the road, which is a state-owned highway.
He said this is something that has happened before, and is due to the pressure of snow that builds up along the edge of the roadway as the plows push through.
Chief Wright encouraged anyone who experienced this problem over the weekend to contact the police department at 732-892-0865 and report the incident. The police department will then issue the caller a copy of the incident report, and can explain how to submit it to the DOT in order to receive funding for a mailbox replacement.
Chief Wright said the department received no first aid calls for emergencies over the weekend.
In preparation for such emergencies, however, the chief said two additional officers were brought in for each shift over the weekend, simply as a precautionary measure.
According to Bill Heckman, Mantoloking Department of Public Works Superintendent, snow removal and cleanup was a weekend-long process.
Mr. Heckman said no pre-salting was done in the borough for the storm. During the storm, about 9 to 10 tons of salt were dispersed throughout the town.
“We started at 8 a.m. on Saturday and again at 11 a.m. on Sunday,” Mr. Heckman said, of the road salting.
He said public works was able to almost fully clear the majority of roads in the borough by Sunday evening.
In nearby Bay Head, Supervisor of Public Works Charles “Chip” Tilson said the town’s public works employees did a bit of pre-salting on Friday, in anticipation of Saturday’s storm. They also prepared by getting their equipment ready to be deployed.
It was not until Saturday that the workers took to the roads in full force. Mr. Tilson said the workers hit the streets from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. They continued their efforts to clean up the roads Monday morning, as well.
In total, he said the public works employees dispersed about 9 tons of salt throughout the borough. As of Tuesday, Mr. Tilson said the only remaining problem was the ice on the roadways.
“We’re waiting for the sun to do its job,” Mr. Tilson said.
Bay Head Emergency Management Coordinator Kelley Mickle said, from her team’s perspective, there were no problems in the borough this past weekend.
Ms. Mickle said it was not necessary for her office to issue any emergency warnings for the borough.
“Nothing was activated [here],” Ms. Mickle said. “Our police did a great job, and our public works did great, too.”
Over at the Bay Head Police Department, Sgt. Geoffrey Barger said no problems arose during the weekend.
“We really didn’t have much of anything,” Sgt. Barger said. “We didn’t have any problems.”
He said the majority of people were staying off the roadways over the weekend. The department did not receive any emergency calls, he said.
Sgt. Barger said the police department did not have to bring in any extra officers last weekend to deal with the storm, either.
“We went with what he had,” he said this week.
He went on to say that the borough did not sustain any damage due to the snow. He said, overall, he was “pleasantly surprised” with how Bay Head weathered the storm.
Early this week, Mr. Kines, the AccuWeather meteorologist, said another storm was forming near the Rocky Mountains, and could reach Ocean County by the end of this week.
However, area residents may be able to keep their snow shovels stowed safely in the garage, as Mr. Kines said the storm will most likely bring sleet or freezing rain, as opposed to snow.
Mr. Kines said Tuesday he couldn’t predict how much precipitation the new storm could bring, but he said there will “potentially be a lot of moisture.”
Reader Comments
Leave a comment on “Let it snow!”