What to expect Monday night and Tuesday as Presidents Day storm continues to sweep through New Jersey.
As the Presidents Day storm continues to push its way up through the Garden State Monday evening, warmer air has been flowing into southern sections of New Jersey, setting the stage for several hours of snow, sleet and freezing rain.
A large band of sleet and freezing rain was reported in southern New Jersey at about 5 p.m., and that dangerous mix is expected to work its way up into central New Jersey early tonight and northern New Jersey later tonight, forecasters said.
Eventually, the mixed precipitation will change to all rain -- first in the southern counties, then in the northern region -- but the rain could be heavy at times and could trigger flooding Tuesday.
Sleet vs. freezing rain: What is the difference?
Here are the latest projections by the National Weather Service on when the changes should take place:
* In southeastern New Jersey, temperatures have already risen above freezing and precipitation was mixing as of 4 p.m. A changeover to rain should occur by about 7 p.m.
* In other sections of southern New Jersey, a mixture of snow, sleet and freezing rain was occurring with a transition to rain, during the early evening.
* Along the Interstate 95 corridor, temperatures remained below freezing as of 4 p.m., and snow was starting to mix with sleet and freezing rain. A changeover to all rain is expected by midnight. About a tenth of an inch of ice is possible before the changeover to rain.
* In most of northern New Jersey, along with the Lehigh Valley and Berks County in eastern Pennsylvania, the weather service expects "a prolonged period of freezing rain," as the changeover to all rain will not occur until late tonight. Two to 4 inches of snow is possible, along with a tenth of an inch of ice.
* For extreme northern New Jersey and the Poconos, the changeover to all rain may not occur until early Tuesday morning, with an extended period of icing. Those areas could get 2 to 4 inches of snow, plus a quarter-inch of ice.
Precip is changing. Freezing rain possible through central #NJ. Roads may become icy. https://t.co/L188CWRTQR pic.twitter.com/zdIUuyCpbJ
-- Michele Powers (@MichelePowersWx) February 15, 2016
Icy threat to continue
Some parts of Sussex and Passaic counties, particularly those that are in hilly terrains, might have to deal with the threat of icy roads as late as 6 a.m. Tuesday, said Sam DeAlba, a meteorologist at WeatherWorks in Hackettstown.
"Most spots (in the far northern region of New Jersey) are still in the upper teens to low 20s right now, so it's going to take some time for the ground to heat up," DeAlba said.
He reminded drivers not to get complacent if they notice the air temperature rising above 32 degrees. Even if the air temperature is above the freezing mark, if the ground is still cold, any rain that falls will likely freeze up on impact, creating a light glaze on untreated roads.
In addition to the danger of slick roads, drivers may have to deal with another problem on Tuesday -- flooding. The National Weather Service is expecting almost an inch to 1.25 inches of rain to fall in southern New Jersey and 1 to 1.5 inches of rain in northern sections of the state before the storm system leaves the area late in the day on Tuesday.
@myWeatherNJ plain rain for 2 hours already in cnj
-- Snowman (@cooljoe613) February 15, 2016
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.