Blizzard Cancels Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools for Second Day

It's official: Scotch Plains-Fanwood students will have a six day weekend.

School District officials made the call to parents around 8 p.m. Wednesday, at a point when as much as 14 1/2 inches of snow could be found on the ground in parts of town. Currently, amounts of as much as 16 1/2 inches have been reported.

Classes were already scheduled to be closed Friday for a professional development workday and on Monday for President's Day. Now students are lucky enough to add Thursday onto their already extended weekend.

Union County Vocational-Technical Schools, Union Catholic High, Union County College, St. Bartholomew Academy and others will also be closed Thursday.

The heaviest snowfall in SP-F began early afternoon, and the National Weather Service predicted it would continue to impact the area through the night. 

The weather service's latest report as of 10:24 p.m. maintained the blizzard warning through 6 a.m. Thursday, stating that snow would continue through midnight, with northeast winds of 20 to 25 miles per hour and wind gusts of up to 40 miles per hour. 

Scotch Plains Public Works Director Kevin Ward told Patch at 8:30 p.m. that his crews have been out working hard all day, and will continue into the night. The morning commute should be fine.

"All primary and seconary roads are passable for the morning," Ward said. "Right now all our sections are done and passable, but we're just cleaning some things up on some of the streets."

A few weighed-down cable lines were reported in Fanwood Wednesday afternoon, but other than that, borough police said all was orderly. No accidents, power outages or other major weather-related incidents had occurred as of 8:30 p.m.

"Obviously it's really, really piling up now," Sgt. Tom Jedic midday Wednesday. "We're trying to tell people to keep off the roads, don't park in the streets."

The Scotch Plains Police Department told Patch at 4 p.m. that there's still been no weather-related reports there either.

"It's still quiet," Lt. Brian Donnelly said. "There's a few wires down, cable wires, phone wires, but no power outages, no road closures, and no major accidents. The good thing about this was that it was forecasted, so people are home. We don't have people out in it, the roads are clear, and DPW is doing the best they can to keep up with this."

Patch contributor Cindy Loh reported that Fanwood was a "ghost town" this afternoon, with only Irma's and China Moon open at the time. Loh spotted fallen branches in yards and on Cooper Road this afternoon. A cross country skier was also seen King Street.

Many local businesses and restaurants are closed, but not all. Click here for a complete look at what's still open.

Scotch Plains Municipal Building was open this morning staffed with employees who were able to make it in, but closed for the day at 11 a.m. to allow staffers to get home before another band of heavy snow hits the area. Fanwood Borough Hall closed at 3:15 p.m.

Scotch Plains-Fanwood Schools, the Union County Vo-Tech Schools, Union Catholic High, and a host of other local schools in the two towns were closed on Wednesday. Go here for our complete list of closings and send us your own information to lindsay@patch.com.

Fanwood Public Works Director Clint Dicksen told Patch early Wednesday morning that they're doing their best to keep the main roads clear and make passes down secondary roads. 

"Definitely stay off the roads if you can," he advised. "That'll help us."

Of course we'll be updating you throughout the day on how the snow is impacting Scotch Plains and Fanwood, but in case you need the most immediate information on travel conditions, power outages, and more, here's some links to where to go.

Power Outages

PSE&G operates an outage map on its Web site that tracks where outages are in New Jersey and how many people they've affected. There is also a link on the page to report outages yourself.

Travel Conditions

For the latest on accidents, weather restrictions and more, head to the state Department of Transportation's Web site, NJCommuter.com. The site maps accidents, congestion, detours and more. Video from the roads is also available.

NJTransit also says it will be updating its Web site throughout the day with the latest info. NJTransit as of 8:50 a.m. said it had started its day off on a regular Wednesday schedule, but that could change throughout the day.

Accidents or Other Public Safety Concerns

If you are in an emergency, remember to call 911. The Scotch Plains Police Department's non-emergency number is 908-322-7100. Fanwood's Police Department can be reached at 908-322-5000.

Remember to stay tuned to Patch throughout the storm for the latest information. If you see something going on, let us know at lindsay@patch.com. And, of course, if you have photos of the snow that you'd like to share, also send them to lindsay@patch.com.