Blizzard 2026: Snow starts accumulating in New Jersey

Well, a state of emergency took effect at noon today for all 21 counties across New Jersey. It's the first time in 30 years, 30 years, that the entire state is under a blizzard warning. I spoke with Governor Mikey Sherrill earlier today, and she's warning everyone to not take this storm lightly. This is going to be the worst storm in 30 years. We haven't had blizzards predicted in all 21 counties since 1996. It's going to be a heavy, wet snow with really high winds, up to 60 miles per hour. So we're worried about some of the trees and branches coming down, and things like power lines, it's onto roads. It's going to be dangerous, dangerous conditions, whiteouts. All right, we continue our live coverage down at the Jersey Shore tonight. Action News reporter Tarana Thomas joins us live with current conditions in Atlantic City. Tarana. Well, Walter and Sarah, the snow is starting to pick up here. It's definitely not the heaviest that we've seen so far, but I want you to get a sense of how steadily this snow is falling. So look up towards the light. You can see how the flakes are coming. They're very steady, but by no means not the heaviest snowfall we've ever seen, but we know that it's coming. The boardwalk almost deserted. We've only seen a couple of people walking, some of them tourists who got stuck in Atlantic City. Other people just hunkered down at the hotels here. We have also seen snowplows out here on the boardwalk, and what a difference they've made. Right where I'm standing, it's still a bit slippery, but totally clear. If you pan over to the side, this is what the rest of the boardwalk looks like. Let me let you look at some video from Atlantic City that we took just a few minutes ago. We can tell you the ride here really varied. We saw anything from big fat flakes to very small icy flakes, but lots of wind, and that's the thing that you need to know if you're out here in Atlantic City. The wind is what's really making the difference. Some people caught off guard by this storm. Others wanted to come out and see it. Nasty out here, of course, and really windy, but I just came out to see what it was like from that door to this door. I mean, it's fun to come out here and play in the snow, but not during when the weather is like this. We got used to that Florida weather, so I was not expecting this when we came up whatsoever. So imagine, expecting Florida weather and getting this, a blizzard. So that's why we've seen people hunker down, going into hotels, making sure they stay outside or maybe peek their head outside and then go back in, but this is certainly quite the sight to see. We are expecting to get hit with a much bigger band of snowfall at around seven o'clock, so we'll stay out here. We'll keep an eye on the situation and bring you more throughout the evening. We are live in Atlantic City. Taronda Thomas, Channel 6 Action News. Walter and Sarah? Yeah, we will be here on the air to keep everybody up to date throughout this. Taronda, thank you.