Seventeen inches in Warren, a travel ban, and a county that closed everything
The February 22 to 23 blizzard put 17.0 inches on Warren by Monday morning. Green Brook led Somerset County at 18.5. State Police extended travel restrictions to noon Monday and the county closed offices, libraries and senior centers.
The blizzard that hit Somerset County from Sunday, February 22 into Monday, February 23, 2026 left 17.0 inches in Warren Township as of 7:30 a.m. Monday, per National Weather Service totals. Green Brook Township recorded the county high at 18.5 inches. A Blizzard Warning ran through 6 p.m. Monday with northwest gusts to 40 mph, and the New Jersey State Police extended travel restrictions through noon Monday. Somerset County closed all county offices, all library branches, all six Senior Wellness Centers, transportation services, the Vocational and Technical School and Raritan Valley Community College.
The totals
The National Weather Service collects storm reports from trained spotters and cooperative observers, and the numbers move as reports come in. Warren's own figure illustrates that. An earlier tally had Warren at 14.5 inches as of 4:30 a.m. Monday. By 7:30 a.m. it was 17.0.
Here is where Warren sat against its neighbors.
| Location | Snowfall |
|---|---|
| Green Brook Township | 18.5 in |
| Middlebush | 18.0 in |
| Warren Township | 17.0 in |
| Watchung | 15.0 in |
| Basking Ridge | 14.5 in |
| Bridgewater | 13.0 in |
| Bernardsville | 11.1 in |
| Freehold, Monmouth County | 24.2 in |
| Chatham, Morris County | 20.0 in |
Green Brook was the county high at 18.5 inches. Freehold in Monmouth County held the statewide high at 24.2 inches, with Chatham in Morris County at 20 inches.
The spread inside Somerset County is the interesting part. Bernardsville at 11.1 inches and Green Brook at 18.5 inches are about twelve miles apart, and they recorded a difference of more than seven inches from the same storm. Warren sat near the heavy end of that gradient.
The travel ban
The New Jersey State Police and the State Office of Emergency Management extended travel restrictions through noon Monday. Their stated reason was operational rather than precautionary: "Roads are dangerous, disabled vehicles and accidents are causing delays."
That is the mechanism that matters during a plowing operation. A stuck or abandoned vehicle on a two lane road stops the plow behind it, and every hour a road goes unplowed makes the next pass harder.
A Blizzard Warning was in effect through 6 p.m. Monday, with northwest gusts to 40 mph. The National Weather Service forecast an additional 3 to 7 inches through midday Monday on top of what had already fallen.
What closed
Somerset County closed, for Monday:
- All county offices
- All library branches
- All six Senior Wellness Centers
- Transportation services
- Somerset County Vocational and Technical School
- Raritan Valley Community College
Recycling pickups were postponed to Tuesday.
Two things people asked about are not in the sources I have. I do not have confirmation of whether Warren Township Schools or Watchung Hills Regional High School closed on February 23, and I do not have confirmation of whether a state of emergency was declared for this specific storm. I am not going to state either one from inference.
Warren's second major storm in a month
This was not an isolated event. Warren had already worked through a significant storm on January 25 to 26. Two large snow events inside four weeks is a different kind of load on a public works department than one big storm, because the second one lands on snow banks, narrowed roads and crews who have already spent their hours.
Update, March 12: how it went
Two items from the March 12 Township Committee meeting fill in the aftermath.
Committeeman Croson thanked Public Works, saying Warren's roads were among the best in the county during the recent storms. That is a committeeman assessing his own township's department, so weight it accordingly, but it is also the only on the record evaluation of the plowing operation that exists.
The number that carries more weight is from the Warren Rescue Squad, which reported 57 calls and 3,100 man hours tied to the February storms. That is the cost side of a storm that most residents experience as a day off and a driveway.
My read
Author's opinion, separated from the facts. The useful lesson from this storm is the gradient. Warren sits on the higher end of the Somerset County snowfall spread, consistently closer to Green Brook and Watchung than to Bridgewater or Bernardsville. If you are calibrating expectations from a county wide forecast number, Warren tends to run above it, and the practical implication is that you should plan your clearing and your travel off the high end of the range rather than the middle.
- Patch, 18 Inches And Counting, Snow Totals In Somerset County, February 23, 2026. https://patch.com/new-jersey/bridgewater/17-inches-counting-latest-snow-totals-somerset-county
- Patch, Travel Ban, Closures, Snow Totals In Somerset County, February 23, 2026. https://patch.com/new-jersey/warren/travel-ban-closures-snow-totals-somerset-county
- Township of Warren, Township Committee Minutes, March 12, 2026. https://www.warrennj.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_03122026-963
John Mangini
Broker / Owner, NextHome Premier
Warren Township resident and full time broker, serving clients since 1999. Warren 07059 is written from live Garden State MLS data, township records and primary sources. Every figure is traceable to a source listed above.
