'Significant Winter Storm' Headed For Bergen County

A "significant winter storm" is expected to hit Bergen County from early Friday until Saturday afternoon and could cause blizzard conditions, according to the National Weather Service.

The NWS issued a winter storm watch from Friday afternoon through Saturday afternoon, predicting 6-12 inches of snow and some ice from sleet and freezing rain.

Visibility could be limited to several hundred feet due to heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain. Driving conditions may be "dangerous."

Winds are expected to blow at 20 or 30 miles per hour, with gusts hitting as much as 50 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service. The gusts may bring down some tree limbs and could cause power outages.

The storm could be even worse, according to Mark Edgerton, a hobby meteorologist and teacher at Indian Hills High School in Oakland who runs his own weather blog.

As of early Thursday afternoon, Edgerton said he was expecting 12-24 inches for Bergen County, but previously said he had a feeling more could be coming.

"My gut instinct, I think we're going up to 2-3 feet," Edgerton said.

Bergen could be facing blizzard conditions as early as noon Friday, he said.

Edgerton studies the European and Canadian weather models to make his forecasts, which he says are generally more accurate than the American models because they use higher-definition data and consider 51 different "tweaks."

The European models predicted this storm a week or longer ago, according to Edgerton.

"I would say it's a safe bet that we're going to get a significant winter storm," Edgerton said.

The Ramsey Office of Emergency Management issued a warning on its Facebook page about the potential severity of the storm.

"We are closely monitoring the weather forecasts from the US National Weather Service New York NY. Forecast models are showing a strong storm approaching Thursday night and into Friday night. There is the potential for significant snowfall and strong winds Friday night. We are posting this to increase your situational awareness," it said Wednesday. 

The OEM said it would continue to update its Facebook page with forecast changes.

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