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A powerful blizzard has knocked out power for more than 122,000 New Jersey homes and businesses this Monday (February 23), as a historic winter storm buries the state in snow and dangerous winds.
According to NJ.com, the number of outages more than doubled overnight, with 18.5 inches of snow already recorded outside the National Weather Service's (NWS) Mount Holly office by 5 a.m. Many other areas across the state have recorded well over a foot of snow.
Ocean County has been hit the hardest, with roughly 40,790 customers in the dark. Newsweek reports that Monmouth County follows with about 24,640 outages, and Cape May, Atlantic, Burlington, and Camden counties are also seeing significant disruptions. By utility, FirstEnergy reported 66,408 outages, while Atlantic City Electric logged 41,373.
Wind gusts of 25 to 35 mph are expected to continue through the day Monday (February 23), which is making power restoration efforts more difficult. The NWS had warned ahead of the storm that gusty winds could bring down tree branches onto power lines, causing widespread outages.
Governor Mike Sherrill declared a state of emergency for all 21 counties in New Jersey on Sunday (February 22). News 12 reported that Sherrill noted this is the first time in 30 years that all 21 counties in the state have faced blizzard warnings simultaneously. All NJ Transit service remains suspended, and a commercial vehicle travel restriction was placed on multiple interstate highways.
The blizzard warning remains in effect for all 21 counties until 6 p.m. Monday (February 23). Forecasters expect the storm to pull away late Monday morning into midday, with snow showers and high winds tapering by the evening. New Jersey is not alone — surrounding states are also dealing with major outages, including Delaware with nearly 67,000 customers out, Massachusetts with over 44,000, and Maryland with more than 31,000.