Snow showers hang around for another day

The upper low from the winter storm a few days ago simply will not quit.  I'm about to call this storm, Rocky Balboa as every time you think it is finished, the storm gets back up for another round.

Luckily the next round of this storm will be focused well to the north and east of the northern Mid Atlantic as the upper low currently over eastern Pennsylvania will capture a Sub Tropical disturbance over the Gulf Stream.
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Snow showers continue as storm slowly exits

The influences from the winter storm of the past two days simply will not quit.  A strong upper low that caused the initial surface low to stall over New York City and then drift through Long Island continues to sit right over the central Hudson Valley.  Strong mid level disturbances are rotating around this upper low and producing areas of scattered snow showers.  A few of these snow showers are producing heavy snow squalls that can rapidly reduce visibility and hamper travel conditions.
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Two Charged in Freehold Elks Lodge Murder

Posted via APP.com:

Rodney Keys

Nearly two years after an Asbury Park man was gunned down outside of a Freehold Elks lodge, police today announced the arrests of two men they say are responsible for the shooting.

Terrell Ryans, 23, of Trenton, and Brandon Montes, 29, of New York City, have both been charge in connection with the murder of Rodney Keys.

Rodney Keys, 39, died before making it to a hospital after he was shot in a parking lot by members of a rival street gang early on the morning of May 3, 2008, said First Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw Jr.

Ryans and Montes are both charged with Keys' murder and an additional charge of attempted murder in relation to an injury sustained by a friend of Keys' who was injured in the shooting.

That friend, Tyrone Ellis, 38, of Asbury Park, was released from a Neptune hospital days after the incident.

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Clearing the Roads in Freehold

Asbury Park Press photographer Doug Hood went for a ride-along with county worker Ron Boyce, an assistant supervisor in the Monmouth County Department of Public Works and Engineering, as he salted Kozloski Road Thursday afternoon.

Bob Dickerson, shift coordinator for the Monmouth County Department of Public Works and Engineering, keeps a close eye on the storm.

The county DPW maintains 1,000 miles of roads in the county, as well as parking lots for various facilities, including the county libraries.

Employees made several salt-spreading runs throughout the day, and planned to return to the roads between 2 and 4 a.m. today to get ready for the morning rush hour, according to John W. Tobia, director of the county Department of Public Works and Engineering.

For a peek into the busy life of a public works employee during a snowstorm, check out Doug's video here.

Irizarry Decision Postponed

There will be no decision until at least next month in the criminal case of a Freehold Township woman and her son who claimed they were victims of police brutality.

Migdalia Irizarry applauds speakers during a 2008 rally outside the Freehold police station

Superior Court Judge Eugene A. Iadanza was expected to hand down a decision Thursday in the case of Migdalia Irizarry and her son, who were arrested after a motor vehicle stop on Jan. 29, 2008, in Freehold.

That decision has now been postponed to March 24, according to a member of his staff.

Both Irizarry and her teen son have been on trial for charges of obstruction and resisting arrest. Irizarry's son was also charged on a juvenile complaint with aggravated assault.

Freehold, Farmingdale residents dig out as road conditions worsen

Posted via APP.com:

As the Friday morning rush hour commenced, road conditions in the Freehold- Farmingdale area worsened as more vehicles churned the snow, creating slush on roadways.
Adding to the worsening conditions was added traffic as the day progressed, although traffic was light compared to a normal day.
Snow fell steadily, whipped here and there by the wind.

In Farmingdale, James Daly did what many of us have to do in a winter storm - dig out.
"Digging out to get to work," said Daly, 43, as he cleared his Walnut Street driveway with a snow-blower about 8 a.m. "I have no excuse, it's only 2 miles away."
Although Daly, who is president of the Borough Council, took the snow in stride, he said he "can't wait for it (winter) to be over." He said it "will make spring (seem) much better."
Lily, 4, and Noah, 1, both English cream golden retrievers, walked along
the borough's North Main Street amid the blowing and steady snowfall.
"They love their walk in the snow," said their owner, Joey Chapurtinov, 47.
While the canines enjoyed the snow, the human said he had enough.
"Losing work," said Chapurtinov, who works outdoors in construction. "Bad winter, you know?"
But Chapurtinov was dealing with it.
"I snow-blow, shovel, help the neighbors out," Chapurtinov said. "Everybody pitches in on our street."

Record snowfall amounts for Freehold-Englishtown area

Posted via APP.com:

By 7 a.m., the Freehold-Englishtown area had about 7 1/2 inches of new snowfall.

Prior to this storm, about 47 inches of snow had fallen this winter where the three counties of Monmouth, Middlesex and Mercer meet, according to Asbury Park Press unofficial records. That is about 20 inches more than average for an entire winter.
Average snowfall is about 28 inches a season, according to official records.
By the time this storm ends Saturday morning, this area will have got about twice the average of a normal winter - with snow possible for another month and a half.

Heavy snow through the morning, snow showers by the afternoon

A very strong area of low pressure has stalled over the southern Hudson Valley and southwestern Connecticut, or basically right over White Plains, New York this morning.

Bands of moderate to heavy snow will rotate through much of New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania this morning with snowfall rates of a half an inch to 2 inches per hour through 11 AM.  Meanwhile, moisture will wrap around the low pressure system that will remain over southern New York through the day, leading to scattered snow showers throughout Connecticut and the Hudson Valley by this afternoon after a break in the action for this morning.

The area of dry conditions over the Hudson Valley and parts of central and northern Connecticut is due to a strong dry slot that was driven into the interior early this morning by the strong 700 MB low.  However, as the 700 MB low weakens, so will the ability to support the dry slot.  Thus snow showers will begin to fill into the region as Atlantic moisture completely wraps around the low pressure system.

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Snow Day!

Freehold students haven't had it this good in a long time.

Thanks to yet another snowfall blanketing the Shore, Freehold Township elementary and middle schools are closed today and borough schools will close early.

High schoolers have reason to celebrate, too: Freehold, Howell and Manalapan high schools will dismiss at 12:03 p.m. today; Colts Neck, Freehold Township and Marlboro high schools will dismiss at 1:03 p.m.

UPDATE: Freehold, Howell and Manalapan High Schools will now dismiss at 11:30 a.m. Colts Neck, Freehold Township and Marlboro High Schools will dismiss at 12:30 p.m. All after-school activities have been canceled.

The Freehold Regional High School District's RAISE Academy and Adult Evening School are closed today, according to the district Web site.

So have fun in the snow, folks. And as always, if you take some cool photos that you want to share, send them to me at kpredham@app.com.

FBEF Awards School Grants

The Freehold Borough Educational Foundation is donating more than $8,000 to projects benefiting the borough's elementary and middle school students, according to foundation chair Jean Holtz.

Freehold Borough Educational Foundation chair Jean Holtz

Holtz announced the awards, which total $8,601, at a borough school district meeting earlier this month.

The grants will be used to fund various initiatives ranging from writing programs at the Freehold Learning Center to new books at Freehold Intermediate Center.

The foundation has been awarding grants to worthy borough school projects since 2001. With this latest round, the foundation has now funnelled nearly $85,000 into the district, Holtz said.

For a full list of this year's projects, check out this report on APP.com.

Major winter storm to impact the region through tomorrow night

A significant winter storm is developing off the North Carolina coast this morning and will move towards the New Jersey coastal waters by tonight before stalling over the region through Friday.

As the low pressure system intensifies, the mix of rain, sleet, and snow along the immediate coast will change over to a steady, heavy, west snow from west to east.  The longer the change over to snow takes, the less snow can be expected, thus the lighter amounts over Connecticut and Long Island.

Very heavy, intense snowfall is expected from roughly northern Ocean County of New Jersey through much of the northern half of New Jersey and towards central New York.  Snowfall rates this afternoon through tomorrow morning in these locations will range from 1 to 3 inches per hour with snowfall amounts of over a foot to as much as two feet expected.

Very strong winds are also expected with this storm with the potential for near white out conditions as times and the threat for the wind to create power outages.  Travel is not recommended this evening through tomorrow afternoon as the low pressure system sits over northern New Jersey.

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CentraState Partners on Cancer Facility

Freehold Township's CentraState Healthcare System is one of three partners that plan to open a massive cancer-treatment center in Somerset, the first of its kind in the New York region, according to a Gannett New Jersey report.

The $160 million facility will offer proton-therapy, a form of radiation therapy that causes less damage to "normal" tissue in front of and behind a tumor.

Construction is to begin in April. If all goes as planned, the facility could begin receiving patients in March 2012.

An artist rendering of a ProCure proton therapy center

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Assembly to Vote on “Diploma Mill Bill” Thursday

Posted via APP.com:

The state Assembly is expected to vote on the so-called diploma mill bill Thursday, after it was approved by the state Senate Monday.

The bill was introduced after stories in the Asbury Park Press revealed that several Freehold Regional High School District employees, including Schools Superintendent H. James Wasser, benefited by obtaining doctoral degrees from an unaccredited, online university.

FRHSD Superintendent H. James Wasser

"The passage of this bill is essential as it directly affects what New Jersey residents are paying for school employees' salaries," state Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, who co-sponsored the Senate bill with Sen. Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, said in a prepared release. "While there is no problem with compensating people for hard work and additional education that only benefits our students, it is simply wrong to reward people with taxpayer dollars when no reward was earned."

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Significant long duration winter storm expected starting tonight

A major winter storm is starting to develop over the Gulf Coast that will have a lasting impact on the entire northern Mid Atlantic tonight through Friday evening.

This morning, the water vapor satellite picture shows two disturbances beginning to interact over the Tennessee Valley.  By this afternoon, these disturbances will form a powerful upper level low over Tennessee that will track towards northeastern Virginia tonight.  Meanwhile, a coastal low will intensify off the North Carolina coast tonight and track towards the New Jersey coastal waters by tomorrow morning.

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Significant winter storm expected Wednesday night through Friday

There are times when as a forecaster, I look at a water vapor satellite and everything just comes together for me in terms of how I think this storm will evolve.  Usually it is a matter of just sitting back and watching the water vapor loop again and again, just observing the way the atmosphere is moving.  Beyond the model data and beyond all the high tech graphical representations, I guess you can call it art at it's most basic level and yet so powerfully amazing.  The following are my thoughts on a storm event starting tomorrow night and continuing on through Friday that I believe will be a storm of impressive proportions but at the same time disappoints for some.

If one needs to use a model to envision my thoughts, the closest guidance to what I think will unfold is the 21Z SREF and the 00Z NAM, which illustrate a fundamental theme very well for the storm that is impacting the region tonight and the one that will be by tomorrow night.  That feature is the 850 MB to boundary layer thermal gradient.  The key to understanding and forecasting for this storm is to take the time to understand what is happening to the thermal gradient at 850 MB, but before we get to that point, let's look at the water vapor which I discussed above.

The water vapor satellite has two distinct features approaching from the West.  The first is a very strong and moisture loaded Sub Tropical disturbance that is approaching the Gulf of Mexico.  A surface low pressure system is starting to develop over the southwestern Gulf of Mexico and is going to move to the northeast towards the Florida coastal waters of the Gulf of Mexico by tomorrow morning.

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