By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Winter storm Stella, a blizzard that is expected to hit the Princeton region late Monday into Tuesday, is expected to bring wind gusts up to 45 mph and dump as much as 20 inches of snow., Snow is expected to start falling between 10 p.m. and midnight and continue through the morning, at times possibly as much 2 to 3 inches an hour, said Dean Iovino, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, Mount Holly. Accumulation will be in the “neighborhood” of 14 to 20 inches, he said., Gov. Chris Christie has declared a state of emergency., Travel figures to be dangerous, with blizzard conditions and near zero visibility., “As of now it is business as usual at Trenton-Mercer Airport. Frontier Airlines has already announced cancellation of some flights, and travelers should check with their carrier on flight status,” said Mercer County spokeswoman Julie Willmot. “It’s not yet determined whether the airport will need to close at some point, but of course safety is the priority.”, NJ Transit was due to issue a news release Monday., One local official pointed to the possibility of power outages., “We’re concerned about the volume of snow that’s potentially predicted for our area as well as the high winds and the fact that they’re saying that snow is going to be heavy and wet,” Mayor Liz Lempert said Monday at her press conference. “That tends to be a recipe for downed trees and downed power lines (and) loss of power.”, PSE&G has extra personnel in the field and taken other steps to prepare for the storm, said utility spokeswoman Brooke Houston. Customers can report power outages by calling 800-436-PSEG, visiting www.pseg.com or by registering with the utility and sending a text message., The town also asked residents to call police if they see downed wires., In Princeton, town staff met Monday to go over storm preparations, ahead of what figures to be a long night. Crews from the public works and recreation departments will be in at midnight., “We’re set to go,” said Robert Gregory, municipal director of Emergency Management., Mayor Lempert said residents cannot have their cars on snow-covered roads, so there is room for plows to do their job., “All of our crews are ready to go, they’re getting all the equipment ready,” town administrator Marc D. Dashield said Monday., The Princeton School District was due to announce Monday evening a decision about whether schools will be closed Tuesday, although officials expect that students will have the day off. The Stuart Country Day School already announced that it will be closed Tuesday., This is expected to be the worst storm of 2017 by far. A weather system moving north off the southeastern coast and bringing some rain to parts of the Carolinas will start dumping snow when it hits the colder air, Iovino said., The storm is expected to wind down by mid-afternoon. Sidewalks in the old borough have to be cleared with 24 hours after the snow stops and within 48 hours in the former township, Mayor Lempert said., “That is really important that gets done, especially if there’s a lot of snow, to make it safe for people to walk on the sidewalks, especially school kids to get back and forth to school safely,” she said., Municipal court in Princeton has been cancelled for Tuesday. The municipal building likely will be closed as well., According to a statement from a hospital spokesman, University Medical Center of Princeton is prepared to care for patients throughout the storm. “We have made arrangements for staff to have on-site sleeping accommodations prior to their shifts to ensure their availability to care for patients. Inpatient and emergency care are available at our facilities 24/7. We have announced the closing of some outpatient services tomorrow,” read the statement. Closing information is available on website http://www.princetonhcs.org and is updated regularly., East Windsor has also issued the following alert:, “Due to the anticipated winter storm conditions, there will be no Township curbside garbage collection on Tuesday, March 14. Garbage collection for Area #2 residents, normally on Tuesday, March 14, will be on the next scheduled collection date of Friday, March 17.”, “The East Windsor Township Senior Center will be closed Tuesday, March 14. The Community Bus Service and Nutrition Program will not be available.”, “East Windsor Township will open 90 minutes late on Tuesday, March 14. All Municipal offices will be open for regular business at 10 a.m.”
