No, no, this is not an April Fool's joke. We're just the messenger. The meteorologists at the National Weather Service are saying it, too. So take it for what it's worth.

Despite what you may believe, winter isn't quite over yet. "Accumulating snow" is supposed to hit just when your relatives are getting in their cars to drive home on Easter. An inch per hour could even fall at some point. A winter weather advisory is in effect in most of New Jersey. Read more: NJ Weather On Easter: Winter Weather Advisory, Snow Estimates

The NWS says "widespread accumulating snow" late Sunday night through Monday morning could result in sloppy, hazardous travel for the Monday morning commute. "So, apparently, the groundhog is going into extra innings with the winter forecast. Assuming we can even play baseball in the snow," said Gary Szatkowski, a former meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

This storm will be a quick-hitting system with most of the accumulation occurring during a 3- to 4-hour window between 3 and 10 a.m., depending on the location, according to the NWS. The highest probability for several inches of accumulation looks to be north and west of Philadelphia, especially in the higher elevations.

Snowfall rates and temperatures could play a huge role. A narrow band of heavy snow sets up somewhere over the area early Monday morning. Snowfall rates – 1 inch per hour – in this band would potentially be heavy enough to overcome the warm ground and allow for snow to start accumulating on roads, according to the NWS.



The snow could be enough to cause schools to delay openings and – gasp – even close school on Monday. Many – if not most – school districts are on spring break this week, though some had to add school time to make up for snow days. Read more: New Jersey School Closings/Delays List For 4/2/18

The band of accumulating snow may be no more than 100 miles wide, so a 50-mile shift in the storm track could mean the difference between several inches of snow, rain or dry weather, according to AccuWeather. Although snow will stick to grassy surfaces along the entire swath, the majority of snow that falls during the daylight hours will melt on paved and concrete surfaces because of the April sun angle, according to AccuWeather.