Dense fog has been reported across Central and Southern New Jersey now that the steady rain has ended. The fog formation is the result of warmer temperatures moving over the cold surface, which is covered with snow and ice in most cases. The fog is thriving off moisture low to the ground. A disturbance moving through later today will bring drier air and this will hopefully scour out the fog.
In the meantime, ice is caked onto trees and power lines very well in Northern and Central New Jersey where a severe ice storm moved through earlier this morning. Temperatures are rising a few degrees above the freezing point, but this is not enough of a rise for the ice to melt. Therefore, many wires have snapped along with tree branches. Even some trees are coming down. The result has been numerous power outages across Northern and Central New Jersey. Middlesex County continues to report the largest number of customers out. The outages are affecting both Jersey Central Power & Light and Public Service Electric & Gas. Until the sunshine can hit these trees, which looks like it may not happen until tomorrow, these trees will remain cakes in ice. As mentioned in a previous post, winds will pick up to 15 to 25 MPH with gusts to 40 MPH. These factors point to a prolonged period of trees and wires continuing to fall down. With the end of steady freezing rain, the road conditions will improve as salt is used to treat these areas. However, falling trees and power lines will still make some roads impassable.
The temperature profile is just amazing right now. It is near 55 degrees in extreme South Jersey while North Jersey is barely making it to 32 degrees.
