Snowstorm stays north and east of New Jersey, but forecasters already watching Tuesday

While Saturday night's storm barely nicked North Jersey with 3 inches of snow, attention is already turning to Tuesday's storm, expected to bring up to a half-foot to the southern part of the state.

The National Weather Service is forecasting snow to begin around 1 p.m. Tuesday, with the largest totals between Routes 80 and 195. 

"We're in the middle of a very active weather pattern," said Bob Ziff of North Jersey Weather Observers. "The pattern we are in right now with cold air moving in suppresses the bigger storms to our south, just like a few weeks ago." 

New Jersey dodged the snow bullet overnight Saturday, with highest totals north and east of New York City.

"The storm performed as expected," Ziff said. "Freezing rain and sleet mixed in during the storm held down the accumulations."

Topping the area snow count was Muttontown, with 5.1 inches, and 4.9 inches in Jericho, both in Nassau County, New York, and 4.8 inches in Commack, in Suffolk County.

New York City reported 3.1 inches, compared with 4.6 inches at Fordham in the Bronx and 4.5 inches in Groton, Connecticut.

New York airports were affected, with 3.6 inches at LaGuardia and 3.1 inches at JFK.

In New Jersey, Newark Airport topped the snow count, with 3.0 inches, followed by Bergen County counts of 2.9 inches in East Rutherford, 2.6 inches in Franklin Lakes and 2.5 inches in Hasbrouck Heights.