December storm brings snow, blown transformers, outages
Sparta. From joy at the sight of this year's first snowfall, to the misery of blown transformers and power outages, the first snow storm of the season made a noticeable entrance. The West Shore Trail area was particularly hard it.
| 02 Dec 2019 | 06:21
View from inside car on Monday, Dec. 2, 2019. The winter storm brought snow, ice, and downed wires. (
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Trish Palko's 10-year-old Lab mix, Leah, enjoys the snow in their yard in Sparta. (
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December started with a blast of cold air, ice, snow and multiple areas lost power on Monday. Among the outages and downed trees and wires was an outage on West Shore Trail. Krogh's Restaurant and Brew Pub closed on Monday evening, due to a power outage
"Not all is happy with this storm... getting pounded with branches and wires down and transformer blow ups on west shore trail!" Nicole Kelly of Sparta posted on Facebook. "Miraculously still have power!"
But no sooner did Kelly write that, than the power went out.
Sparta Township Police stated that Sparta has a significant number of power outages, including along West Shore Trail, and JCP&L is trying to address each outage as quickly as possible.
Other trouble areas and closures:
-758 Houses Corner Road
-South Shore Trail/Hugh's Corner
-15 Alpine Trail
-110 Alpine Trail/ Summit Trail
-West Shore Trail to North Shore Trail
-McCloud Lane
-Heritage Lane
-Balance Rock Terrace
Board of Public Utilities Commissioner Joseph L. Fiordaliso advises that it is vital that residents notify their utility company if losing power. "Charge your cell phone, make sure you have a flashlight available."
To report outages:
@PSEGdelivers 1-800=436-PSEG.
@JCP_L 1-888-544-4877.
@ACELecConnect: 1-800-833-7474.
As of 6 p.m., on Monday, the New Jersey State Police had responded to 428 motor vehicle crashes and 312 motorist aids in State Police patrolled areas.
Sparta Township Office of Emergency Management opened a GO2/ Warming Center at the Police Station. Residents could advise dispatchers if wishing to use the police facility to charge up devices or to warm up. As of 6:20 p.m. on Monday, one person was charging electronics in the lobby and warming up.
Local school children had the day off on Monday, due to the December snow storm's hazardous driving conditions. Several schools including Stanhope Public Schools had a delayed opening on Tuesday. Area children enjoyed the day off, while parents figured out alternate arrangements for child care, and shoveled driveways and sidewalks.
Local Municipal Offices closed early or didn't open at all on Monday, and some meetings were postponed.