The first big snowstorm of 2017 could potentially bring several inches of snow Thursday morning into afternoon across the shore and crews have already been preparing. This will be a post updated as information becomes available.

Snowfall in Monmouth County February 9, 2017. (Chris Scali, Townsquare Media)
Snowfall in Monmouth County February 9, 2017. (Chris Scali, Townsquare Media)
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A Winter Storm Warning remains in effect for Monmouth and Ocean Counties until 4 pm Thursday.

Meteorologist Dan Zarrow also predicts that lighter snow will settle in through the afternoon and taper off around 4 pm, with 4-7 inches of snow possible in Monmouth County and 2-5 inches in Ocean County today.

Keep up with closures, delayed openings and any cancellations for schools or other venues on our Stormwatch Page at wobm.com.

Rain began the first installment of the winter storm then transitioned to a wintry mix and snow as we head towards into the afternoon.

In Toms River, OEM Coordinator Paul Daley says thing really began to pick up this morning for a while.

"Deteriorating quickly, roads are slushy and turning into ice," said Daley. "The winds are picking up and it's just going to get worse from here."

He adds local, county and state crews have been out there since the early Thursday morning hours working on main and side streets by putting down salt and sand.

As snow showers taper off this afternoo and the cleanup begins, dropping temperatures tonight into Friday morning could make for a slippery commute again tomorrow.

Ocean County Sheriff Mike Mastronardy asks residents to stay indoors if they can as roads become more icy in spots, but emergency crews are ready to respond if need be.

"We do have a limited opening of our emergency management center in case there are any needs there," said Mastronardy. "We're also assisting local police by putting our EMT's on the road as we anticipate there may be some EMS calls later on."

In Monmouth County Public Works Director John Tobia says this morning they watched heavy snow fall across the community, but those roads were pre-treated with salt.

He adds that with well-below freezing temps becoming a factor tonight even into Saturday, crews will be out there looking to prevent black ice.

"County crews will be staying out throughout the evening to clean county roads from curb-to-curb," said Tobia. "The Route 35 building complexes will be cleaned and opened for business tomorrow."

With warm temperatures yesterday, crews in Ocean and Monmouth Counties were ready to roll out.

"We spent the afternoon Wednesday getting plows ready and spreaders and making sure everything is done," said Ocean County Roads Supervisor Tom Curcio. "We topped our salt off after the last storm we had a few Saturdays back."

Adding a layer of salt will help with the cleanup later in the day he adds.

"It'll mix in with the snow and keep it from piling up too fast," said Curcio. "Then we get done pushing the snow off we put more salt down."

As the snow continues to pour down across the shore today, Curcio has a message if your frustrated by any snow pushed onto the driveway you just shoveled.

"As long as you can wait to do it, I'd wait to do it until we're done getting the road clear," said Curcio. "You'll just end up having to shovel the driveway out a second time."

JCP&L crews are asking you to stay clear of downed electrical lines, even if they don't appear to be live. You can report outages to 1-888-L-I-G-H-T-S-S or on their website.

“Make sure that you have snow shovels, snow brushes and rock salt or one of the more environmentally safe products to melt ice on walkways," said Monmouth County Freeholder Serena DiMaso, the liaison to the County Office of Emergency Management.

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Contact Reporter Vin Ebenau at 848-221-8100 or at vin.ebenau@townsquaremedia.com

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