New Jersey woke up Tuesday to its coldest weather in 20 years and schools, transportation systems and utilities are all reacting.

Dashboard displays temperature on Tuesday morning
Dashboard displays temperature on Tuesday morning (Jason Allentoff, Townsquare Media NJ)
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The National Weather Service has a Wind Chill Advisory in effect until 6 a.m. Wednesday morning across the state as wind chills will dip to -15 - -20 again.

The lowest temperatures recorded around the state Tuesday morning include 1 degree in Andover and 3 degrees in Trenton, Somerville and Sussex. West winds around 15 MPH create a wind chill of -15.

 

 

According to state climatologist David A. Robinson, those levels will qualify as New Jersey's coldest single day temperatures since January 19, 1994.

Many schools have delayed their openings on Tuesday to allow extra time for buses to warm up.

NJ Transit had delays of 30-45 minutes between New Brunswick and New York Penn Station due to signal problems  at the start of the morning commute but later were reduced to 15 minutes.  They are cross honoring tickets system wide today and Wednesday and keeping their waiting rooms open to protect riders from the cold. Amtrak is operating Northeast Corridor service on a modified schedule between Boston and Washington again on Wednesday.

PATCO is running local service only westbound into Philadelphia from south Jersey due to equipment problems.

JetBlue Airways is expected to resume operations at 10 a.m. this morning at Newark, JFK and LaGuardia airports after canceling all flights yesterday at 5 p.m. for 17 hours to allow the airline to catch up from several days of weather-related delays and issues.

Power outages are at a minimum according to the JCP&L, PSE&G and Atlantic City Electric service maps. About 300 PSE&G customers in Perth Amboy were without power as of 5:40 a.m.

Nationally, forecasters said some 187 million people could feel the effects of the "polar vortex" as it spreads across much of the country. Tennessee utility officials braced for near-record power demand, while Ohio prepared for its coldest temperatures in decades.

Monday's subzero temperatures broke records in Chicago, which fell to minus 16, and Fort Wayne, Ind., at 13 below. Records also fell in Oklahoma and Texas, and wind chills across the region were at 40 below and colder. Officials in several states urged residents to stay home if they could.

Wind chill chart
Wind chill chart (NWS)
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