Some parts of New England, particularly Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, could get pounded with as much as 12 to 18 inches of snow from this storm, which will bring blizzard conditions to some of those areas.
If you have to drive in northern New Jersey Thursday morning, you might want to give yourself some extra time. Light snow is expected to start falling around daybreak, and it could accumulate to 1 to 3 inches in parts of Sussex, Morris, Warren, Somerset, Hunterdon and Passaic counties before the snow changes to rain by the early afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
Drivers traveling in central and southern New Jersey will likely see some light snow early Thursday morning, but it should change to rain within an hour or two as temperatures rise into the mid-30s to low 40s, said Dean Iovino, a meteorologist at the weather service's regional forecast office in Mount Holly.
Most of the precipitation should be over before the evening rush hour, but there could be scattered snow showers in parts of the state Thursday night as temperatures fall below the freezing mark, Iovino said.
Additional snow showers are likely to develop across the state on Friday, "but they won't be widespread, they'll be hit or miss," Iovino said.
No winter weather advisories or storm watches are currently in effect for New Jersey, but the weather service issued a hazardous weather outlook for Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties, as well as several counties in northeastern Pennsylvania, saying "periods of snow Thursday may make travel hazardous at times during the morning."
"The best chance for daytime accumulations of 1 to 3 inches is over the high terrain from near Reading northeastward to northwestern New Jersey, north of Interstate 78," the outlook says. "Snow may change to rain there late morning or during midday."
Big snowstorm further north
Thursday's precipitation is tied to a low-pressure system that will be developing along a cold front that's moving into our region from the west. As the system moves off the New Jersey coast, it is expected to rapidly intensify into a major snowstorm over New England and southeastern Canada late Thursday night into Friday, the weather service said.
Some parts of New England, particularly Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont, could get pounded with as much as 12 to 18 inches of snow from this storm, which will bring blizzard conditions to some of those areas, according to AccuWeather.
"Some of the mountains of New Hampshire could receive two feet of snow or more," said Henry Margusity, a senior meteorologist at AccuWeather. "This storm will be a skier's dream for northern New England."
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.