A large coastal storm is expected to bring heavy snow, sleet and rain to New Jersey and other states in the Northeast late Sunday into early Monday. But before that, a smaller storm will dump some snow and sleet on parts of the Garden State. (AccuWeather)

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UPDATE (Saturday, March 2): Parts of Garden State could get up to 1 foot of snow after overnight storm dropped over 5 inches

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Sorry for using an old cliche, but March 2019 is roaring in like a lion, with a trio of winter storms taking aim at the New Jersey region during the first three days of the month and threatening to deliver a mix of snow, sleet and rain.

How much snow? The jury is still out on that, but some forecasters say the biggest storm system — the one that is heading our way late Sunday into early Monday — could dump as much as 6 to 12 inches of snow in the northwestern counties of New Jersey if temperatures stay cold enough throughout the storm.

No matter what that storm brings, it will be followed by a few days of frigid temperatures as an Arctic air mass dips down from Canada, making it feel more like January than March.

First things, first. Here's a breakdown on what's in store for us during the next few days.

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FRIDAY, MARCH 1

Storm No. 1: The first day of March — which meteorologists and climatologists consider to be the start of the spring season — got off to a wintry start, thanks to a fast-moving clipper system that dropped a light coating of snow in some areas of New Jersey and a few inches of snow in other areas in the morning. Among the highest snowfall totals reported by the National Weather Service today were 4.0 inches in Ocean City, 3.0 inches in Cherry Hill and 2.7 inches in Maple Shade.

Storm No. 2: Cloudy skies are lingering Friday afternoon, and another storm system — a small, fast-moving coastal storm — will start to drop a mix of rain, snow and possibly sleet tonight in the northern half of the state and mostly rain in coastal areas and southern counties, according to the National Weather Service and other forecasters.

How much snow: Areas north and west of Interstate 95 in New Jersey could get 2 to 4 inches of snow, plus a light glaze of ice, from late Friday night into the pre-dawn hours of Saturday. Areas near I-95 will likely get a mix of snow and rain, with some sleet possible, so they will probably will end up with a coating to 1 or 2 inches of snow, the weather service said. Meteorologist Rob Reale from the WeatherWorks forecasting company said there could be pockets of 5 or 6 inches of snow in some areas north and west of I-95.

Storm alerts: A winter weather advisory will be in effect from 9 p.m. Friday through 7 a.m. Saturday in Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Warren counties, where road conditions can get slick. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 7 p.m. Friday through noon Saturday in Hudson, Essex and Union counties, as well as in New York City. And an advisory is in effect from 10 p.m. Friday to noon on Saturday in Bergen and Passaic counties.

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This is the latest National Weather Service snow forecast for northern and central New Jersey, and eastern Pennsylvania, from Friday night through Saturday morning.

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This is the latest National Weather Service snow forecast for northeastern New Jersey, New York City and Long Island, from Friday night through early Saturday afternoon.

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SATURDAY, MARCH 2

Storm No. 2 ending: The second storm should be winding down in the early morning, with light snow, sleet and rain in the northern counties and rain in the southern counties and coastal areas. Occasional rain showers could linger into the early afternoon. Saturday night should be mostly cloudy but dry.

How much snow: A light coating of new snow and sleet, around a half-inch or less, is expected in northern counties.

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Early snowfall projections from AccuWeather for the coastal storm that is expected to arrive in New Jersey Sunday night. (AccuWeather)

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SUNDAY, MARCH 3

Storm No. 3: The morning should start out cloudy and dry, but rain is likely to arrive in the late afternoon, with temperatures hovering near 40 degrees, even up in North Jersey, as a bigger coastal storm arrives. Snow is forecast to move in Sunday night, mixing with rain and possibly sleet in central and southern New Jersey.

How much snow: Accumulations will vary widely, depending on the exact track of the storm system. If the system moves directly over New Jersey or close to the coast, snow will likely change over to a wintry mix and then rain along the Interstate 95 corridor, areas south and east of I-95 would get mainly rain, and northwestern New Jersey could get heavy snow accumulations before a wintry mix starts falling, the weather service said.

Early projections: The New Jersey office of the National Weather Service is holding off on specific snowfall projections until Friday night's storm clears and Sunday's storm track gets more clarified. However, agency forecasters say colder areas of the state have the potential to get "significant accumulations," as much as 6 to 10 inches of snow. Lower snowfall totals are likely in areas closest to the rain-snow line, which might end up being the I-95 corridor once again, like it was for many storms this winter.

AccuWeather projections: Forecasters from AccuWeather also say snowfall totals will be highly dependent on the exact track of the storm. For now, AccuWeather is anticipating 3 to 6 inches of snow in the northern third of the Garden State, 1 to 3 inches of snow in much of central New Jersey, and just rain in most of South Jersey.

Other projections: Forecasters from NBC4 in New York are predicting as much as 8 to 12 inches of snow in northern Sussex County, 5 to 8 inches of snow in Morris, Passaic, Warren, northern Bergen, northern Hunterdon and southern Sussex, and 3 to 5 inches of snow in areas just north and west of the New Jersey Turnpike.

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MONDAY, MARCH 4

Morning commute: Although the rain and snow showers are expected to wind down by 7 a.m., the morning commute could turn out to be a rough one in areas that get a good amount of snow and sleet.

Arctic blast: Regardless of how much snow we get, a big blast of Arctic air will be pushing into New Jersey on Monday, with temperatures diving from the upper 30s and low 40s in the afternoon down to the low 20s after midnight and the teens early Tuesday morning. Temperatures are expected to be running 10 to 20 degrees colder than normal for early March.

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Areas shaded in purple are under a winter weather advisory from Friday night through Saturday morning or Saturday afternoon. Exact times vary from county to county. (National Weather Service)

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2 winter storms will impact the Eastern US this weekend. Storm #1 will mainly affect southern PA to coastal New England tonight-Sat eve. Storm #2 will impact the Ohio Valley into the Northeast Sunday-Monday. Some uncertainty as the axis of heavy snow could shift north or south. pic.twitter.com/gGMCZYOgtj — NWS Eastern Region (@NWSEastern) March 1, 2019

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Snow forecast map from the eastern regional office of the National Weather Service, for the storm affecting the Northeast region Friday night, March 1, into Saturday, March 2.

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Early snow forecast map from the eastern regional office of the National Weather Service, for the storm affecting the Northeast region Sunday, March 3, into Monday, March 4.

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Here are the latest updates on snow impacts for tonight and Sunday night through Monday morning.https://t.co/GQqOZnryBg pic.twitter.com/VbbCxsTM5U — NY NJ PA Weather (@nynjpaweather) March 1, 2019

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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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