#Blizzardof2015 is one big dud for Philadelphia and South Jersey

The powerful winter storm moving northeast along the coast is staying further east than forecasters expected. As a result, snow projections for Philadelphia and most of South Jersey have been downgraded to a range of 2-6 inches of additional snow by Tuesday afternoon. A huge drop from earlier projections of up to 12-18 inches in these areas. 

The highest total reported in the state by trained observers was in North Jersey with  8.1 inches in North Bergen. Observers are measuring 8 inches in Berkeley Township and 7.5 inches in another Ocean County community, Brick Township.

To the west and south, the totals are lower. Hackettstown had 3.1 inches, Mount Laurel 1.8 and Sea Isle City just a half-inch.

National Weather Service meteorologist Gary Szatkowski said on Twitter early this morning that for much of New Jersey, and for the Philadelphia Metropolitan area, this is a big forecast miss. 

Szatkowski told his Twitter followers just after midnight:

“My deepest apologies to many key decision makers and so many members of the general public. You made a lot of tough decisions expecting us to get it right, and we didn’t. Once again, I’m sorry.”

He does warn that residents along the Jersey shore in Monmouth & Ocean counties should keep a close eye on the weather and could still get upwards of 14 inches of snow. Szatkowski also says this it still could bring heavy amounts of snow from New York City all the way into New England.

NEW JERSEY

The statewide travel ban has been cancelled.  The restrictions were put in place on Monday night to aid plowing. Little more than a dozen power outages are reported statewide.

NJ Transit: Northeast Corridor trains will operate on a weekend schedule starting at 10 am; South Jersey buses are on a regular schedule; North Jersey buses will begin operating by 11am; Light rail services are operating. Cross honoring is in effect.

PENNSYLVANIA

Gov. Tom Wolf has declared a state of emergency.  In Philadelphia, all city offices and public and Catholic schools will be closed on Tuesday. The city earlier declared a snow emergency, ordering vehicles removed from snow emergency routes.

SEPTA: Market Frankford and Broad Street Line Trains will operate all-night and there will be no BSL or MFL OWL bus service.  All SEPTA Regional Rail trains will operate on a Saturday schedule beginning at the start of service Tuesday, January 27.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story