Major Snowstorm Predicted To Begin Around the Friday Night Rush Hour

Update 11:20 a.m. Friday, Feb. 8: The Middletown Recreation Dept. ski trip has been postponed until March 2 "in the essence of safety." Read the notice here. 

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Original story, 4 am Friday Feb. 8

The imminent arrival of Winter Storm Nemo has skiers and snowboarders stoked to hit the slopes.

But if they were hoping to take the Saturday morning Middletown Recreation trip to Camelback Ski Resort, they may have to hold off. 

"While this will provide amazing trail conditions, it will also provide hazardous road conditions," the Recreation Dept. said in a message posted to the township website. The trip may be delayed, or postponed altogether until March. 

On Thursday afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning through 6 a.m. Saturday. 

The storm will affect eastern Monmouth the hardest from Friday night through Saturday morning. Depending on the track of the storm there could be snow accumulation of anywhere from 6 to 10 inches as well as "possibly a trace of ice,' according to the warning. 

There may be some snow on Friday morning that is expected to shift temporarily to rain before the full force of the snow is expected to arrive into Friday evening. As much as one or two inches of snow could fall per hour with winds upwards of 40 MPH making for more hazardous conditions. There is also a chance for a thunderstorm rolling through. 

By Saturday morning the snow is expected to slow down making for a sunny and windy start to the weekend. 

The storm also has a coastal flood watch for Monmouth, Ocean and Middlesex Counties. The National Weather Service is warning there could be minor flooding during high tide on Friday night and moderate flooding with Saturday's high tide.

Anticipating power outages due to heavy wet snow, JCP&L said its workers will be on duty around the clock. More than 100 crews and additional support personnel from FirstEnergy's Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison arrived in New Jersey Thursday, and tree contractors are on standby.