First Day Of Holiday Tournament Schedule Disrupted By Storm
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ–On this day after Christmas, the holiday tournaments were supposed to get underway throughout the Garden State, but Old Man Winter had something to say about that. A major winter storm that had trekked across the United States over the past week, may have saved its best for last. A good portion of New Jersey is currently under a Blizzard Warning as well as New York City, Long Island, and Connecticut until tomorrow.
A powerful storm has been developing off the Carolinas, and is presently located near the Delmarva Peninsula. Some forecast models indicate that this storm system could intensify and deepen to be as powerful as a Category Three Hurricane overnight. Maximum sustained winds are already reaching 30 to 35 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 miles per hour along the coast. Barometric pressure has already dropped to 29.40 inches as of the time of this report. However, we are just getting into the really powerful portion of the storm so things are just getting started here.
Already a few inches of snow has fallen across Central Jersey with snowfall rates anticipated to pick up to between one to three inches per hour between now and early Monday morning when the storm finally pulls away. Snowfall totals are expected to range between 12 and 18 inches throughout much of New Jersey with some areas getting as high as two feet. Winds are also expected to continue to pick up as the low makes its closest approach to the Garden State. Blizzard conditions occur when you have over an inch of snow per hour, winds of at least 35 miles per hour, and visibility less than a quarter of a mile for three straight hours.
The storm has already had a bit of a history. It created the first White Christmas in Huntsville, Alabama since 1985, the first since 1992 in Nashville, Tennessee, and the first since 1882 in Atlanta, Georgia. The sports schedule has been impacted by the storm. The NFL football game scheduled for tonight between the Minnesota Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles from Lincoln Financial Field in Philly has been rescheduled for Tuesday night thanks to the storm. It was the second time that a Vikings game has been affected by inclement weather. Several weeks ago, the roof of the Metrodome collapsed forcing Minnesota to play the Giants at Ford Field in Detroit.
Locally, the sports schedule has also been affected. The first day of holiday tournament play on the high school boys basketball circuit has had a monkey wrench thrown into it by this storm. The Cardinal McCarrick JV and Freshmen holiday tourneys set for this afternoon and tomorrow have been postponed until later in the week. No details have been given as far as when will the games scheduled for Sunday and Monday will be made up. The opening round of the JV, Freshmen, and Varsity Tournaments in the Roselle Catholic-Kowal Tourney were also scheduled for today with Bishop Ahr originally set to play Roselle Catholic on Sunday night.