Understanding weather forecasts for Lakewood is a bit confusing. The National Weather Service organizes its forecasts by county. The current Ocean County blizzard warning is as follows.
http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=NJZ020&warncounty=NJC029&firewxzone=NJZ020&local_place1=Lakewood%20NJ&product1=Blizzard+Watch&lat=40.0948&lon=-74.2119#.VqEQ9Fnl-jA
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...6 TO 14 INCHES POSSIBLE... WITH THE HIGHER AMOUNTS MAINLY INLAND FROM THE ATLANTIC COAST. SOME SLEET SHOULD MIX IN ALONG WITH SOME RAIN CLOSER TO THE COAST SATURDAY... WHICH WOULD CUT DOWN THE SNOW ACCUMULATION.
* TIMING...SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA FROM SOUTH TO NORTH FRIDAY EVENING... PRIMARILY AFTER THE EVENING COMMUTE... THEN CONTINUE TO BE HEAVY AT TIMES INTO SUNDAY MORNING.
THE STRONGEST WINDS AND GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL BE ON SATURDAY.
* WINDS...NORTHEAST 25 TO 35 MPH. GUSTS UP TO 55 MPH...WITH THE HIGHEST GUSTS CLOSER TO THE COAST. * VISIBILITIES...ONE-QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.
* TEMPERATURES...IN THE LOWER 30S.
On the other hand, the Monmouth County warning is this.
http://forecast.weather.gov/showsigwx.php?warnzone=NJZ013&warncounty=NJC025&firewxzone=NJZ013&local_place1=Howell%20NJ&product1=Blizzard+Watch&lat=40.157&lon=-74.2236#.VqERAVnl-jB
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS...10 TO 18 INCHES POSSIBLE. SOME SLEET AND RAIN COULD MIX IN CLOSER TO THE COAST SATURDAY...WHICH WOULD CUT DOWN THE SNOW ACCUMULATION.
* TIMING...SNOW IS EXPECTED TO OVERSPREAD THE AREA LATE FRIDAY EVENING AFTER THE EVENING COMMUTE... THEN CONTINUE TO BE HEAVY AT TIMES INTO SUNDAY MORNING.
THE STRONGEST WINDS AND GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL BE ON SATURDAY.
* WINDS...NORTHEAST 25 TO 35 MPH WITH FREQUENT GUSTS UP TO 45 MPH. * VISIBILITIES...ONE-QUARTER MILE OR LESS AT TIMES.
* TEMPERATURES...IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S.
Lakewood is on the border of Ocean and Monmouth Counties so which will be more accurate?
Lets look at a county map of NJ
As you can see, Ocean county goes quite a bit south and is significantly larger than Monmouth. It is also more coast oriented than Monmouth. This would mean that geographically Lakewood is likely more similar to the Monmouth forecast than the Lakewood one. Additionally, the Ocean forecast is for an even more wide ranging area than Ocean County alone. It is for these areas.
KENT-OCEAN-CUMBERLAND-ATLANTIC-SOUTHEASTERN BURLINGTON- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...DOVER...JACKSON...MILLVILLE... HAMMONTON...WHARTON STATE FOREST
This covers the entire southern coastal area of NJ. On the other hand, the Monmouth forecast is for this area alone.
WESTERN MONMOUTH- INCLUDING THE CITY OF...FREEHOLD
This is very specific to the non-coastal areas of Monmouth. This also means that Lakewood should be more comparable to the Monmouth forecast.
