Winter storm pulls away after dumping heavy snow; frigid air won't budge | Live updates

Gov. Mikie Sherrill declared a State of Emergency for New Jersey ahead of the weekend winter storm.

She made the announcement during a storm briefing on Friday afternoon.

CeFaan Kim has more from Fort Lee.

As a result, the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) will issue a commercial vehicle restriction for all tractor trailers, empty straight CDL-weighted trucks, passenger vehicles pulling trailers, recreational vehicles, and motorcycles at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday for the following roads:
I-76 (entire length)
I-78 (entire length)
I-80 (entire length)
I-195 (entire length)
I-280 (entire length)
I-287 (entire length)
I-295 (entire length)
I-676 (entire length)
New Jersey Route 440, both directions from the Outerbridge Crossing to I-287.

Eyewitness News reporter Toni Yates stopped at Post Ace Hardware in Somerville, where they had two shipments of salt and shovels come in.

"I've taken care of a lot of customers. Unfortunately, we're out of many of the ice melting products, or all of the ice melting products and snow shovels, but we're hoping to get restocked early next week," said Dan Massari of Post Ace Hardware.

Still, there were some naysayers, who insisted there was no storm coming.

"No it's not. I don't believe the weatherman. I'm serious," said a food shopper named Clarence.

At least 74 trucks are gearing up to treat roads in Nassau County ahead of the weekend winter storm.

Town Supervisors and Emergency Management Officials will be watching not only how much snow falls but how cold the temperatures become.

Stacey Sager has the latest on storm prep in Nassau County.

"If you don't see us salting, it's not because we don't have the equipment, the personnel, or the salt...It's because it wouldn't have any effect anyway, so we don't do it," Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said.

What they are doing is brining the overpasses ahead of time and warning local residents, particularly on the north shore, about power outages.

There's a high volume of trees near power lines and they are traditionally challenged by the weight of snow and the power of wind.

Officials recommended to not park on the residential streets and to find a driveway or move your car somewhere else.

"We've suspended the rules with regard to parking on grass through Tuesday, so please get those cars off the road if possible, so our plows can do their job," Town Supervisor John Ferretti said.

Outside Home Depot in Westbury, shoppers found themselves out of luck, even finding salt.

Mostly, people are looking forward to a cozy weekend inside.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has issued a consumer alert warning New Yorkers ofpricegougingahead of a major weekend winterstorm.

New York'spricegouginglaw prevents businesses from taking advantage of consumers by selling essential goods or services at an excessively higherpriceduring market disruptions or emergencies.Attorney General

James is urging New Yorkers who see higherprices on essential goods and services to file complaints with the Office of the Attorney General(OAG).

"New Yorkers preparing for thisstormshould not have to face higher costs for the essentials they need to stay safe. Ourpricegouginglaws are clear, and my office will not hesitate to hold accountable those who try to take advantage of this emergency by raising theirprices."

When reportingpricegougingto OAG, consumers should:

- Report the specific increasedprices, dates, and places that they saw the increasedprices; and
- Provide copies of their sales receipts and photos of the advertisedprices, if available.

Pricegougingviolations can carry penalties of up to $25,000 per violation. New Yorkers should report potential concerns aboutpricegougingto OAG by filing a complaint onlineor calling 800-771-7755.

The New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has issued a Snow Alert for Sunday, beginning at 1 a.m.

A Snow Alert is the Department's "higher level" snow-fighting notification, as opposed to the "lower level" Winter Operations Advisory.

DSNY says preparations for this storm are well underway and will continue through the weekend:

- DSNY began applying brine to highways, streets, and bike lanes starting Friday morning. This is a liquid salt solution the Department frequently uses before some storms to help prevent snow and ice accumulations on roadways.

- Sanitation Workers are working to affix plows and chains to all DSNY collection trucks, transforming them into snow plows.

- Roughly 2,000 Sanitation Workers will be on every 12-hour shift beginning Saturday evening and continuing through the duration of the event.

- With 700 million pounds of salt on hand, DSNY will have 700 salt spreaders filled and prepositioned, ready to spread salt at the first sign of snowflakes.

- Plows will begin operating when two inches of snow accumulate, which mayhappen as early as 9 a.m. Sunday. Residents will be able to track the progress of DSNY snow removal vehicles at nyc.gov/PlowNYC. Remember, a plowed or salted street will not show blacktop right away.

- Many New Yorkers rely on bike lanes to get to work or, in the case of delivery personnel, to do their work. DSNY has dozens of bike lane plows ready to service these areas at the sametime as car lanes.

- DSNY's snow-fighting operations will be tracked via DSNY's state-of-the-art BladeRunner2.0 system from our command center, meaning snow equity for all New Yorkers. Every street is on a route, and every route is dispatched at once.

Snow Clearing Information

While DSNY clears streets and bike lanes, property owners are responsible for clearing sidewalks. As a reminder, property owners and car owners may NOT push snow into the street, including bike lanes. This impedes snow clearing operations and is illegal. Snow may be moved against the building, to the curb line, or areas on private property. Sidewalks should be passable for all pedestrians, including a minimum 4-foot clear path, where possible.

If the snow stops falling between:

7 a.m. and 5 p.m., property owners must clear sidewalks within 4 hours
5 p.m. and 9 p.m., property owners must clear sidewalks within 14 hours
9 p.m. and 7 a.m., property owners must clear sidewalks by 11 a.m.

Property owners with Empire Bins are responsible for clearing snow and ice from the Empire Bin to facilitate collection.

All winter weather information and information about the City's response to the storm can be found by visiting the City's Severe Weather website at nyc.gov/snowor by calling 311.

New Yorkers are also encouraged to sign up for NotifyNYC, the City's free emergency notification system, available in 14 languages including ASL. Through NotifyNYC, New Yorkers can sign up to receive phone calls, text messages, and email alerts about severe weather events and emergencies. To sign up for NotifyNYC, call 311, visit nyc.gov/notifyor follow @NotifyNYC.