Area takes punch of one-foot snowstorm

No major accidents or injuries reported

By: Helen Pettigrew
   Approximately one foot of snow fell in the Princeton area Saturday in what the National Weather Service called the "End of the Millennium Storm."
   It was the heaviest snowfall since January 1996, when about 22 inches of snow fell on Princeton, according to the National Weather Service.
   With plenty of warning of the impending storm, area municipalities and most residents appeared to take the onslaught in stride.
   Princeton Township declared a snow emergency, calling for the prohibition of parking on municipally owned streets until the streets were cleared of snow. The snow emergency was lifted Monday.
   In Princeton Borough permission for overnight parking on Saturday night was suspended to ease the clearing of snow.
   The storm, bringing the first significant snowfall of the winter, began about 3 a.m. Saturday and continued well into the afternoon, according to the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.
   A winter storm warning, which was issued Friday afternoon to take effect Saturday, was canceled at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.
   Despite the depth of the snow, the storm did not cause too much trouble for the Princetons and surrounding communities. No major accidents or injuries were reported as a result of the snowfall, but police in West Windsor, Montgomery and Plainsboro reported many disabled vehicles over the weekend, and some minor car accidents. Power was not disrupted, according to police.
   The streets were practically deserted in Princeton Borough Saturday afternoon with many stores and restaurants closed. Parking spaces, often nonexistent on a Saturday, were plentiful and actually free in the downtown Park & Shop lot, where no one was occupying the ticket booth.
   The long weekend was a sledder’s paradise, with children delighted in the heavy snow and taking advantage of slopes at Westminster Choir College and Springdale Golf Course.
   Cross-country skiers plied the streets, sidewalks and fields. The Springdale course attracted a number of skiers.
To access the National Weather Service Web page with information about Saturday’s storm, click here.