Snow, wind, but nor’easter no Sandy

From 1 to 3 inches of snow has fallen in South Jersey, 60,000 more power outages have been reported, and the storm even got a name.

But fortunately for the Jersey beaches and the rest of the region, for the much-heralded nor'easter, the devastation of Sandy has been an impossible act to follow.

The National Weather Service has taken down the winter-storm watches, and at most the immediate Philadelphia area might see a slushy inch or so, said AccuWeather meteorologist Dave Dombek.

Dombek said the storm was centered about 50 miles farther east than expected, and that has made all the difference.

Some snow is still possible tonight, and the Weather Service still is calling for 1 to 3 inches, but Dombek believes that's more likely to happen in South Jersey than west of the Delaware.

The worst of the storm was reported in Monmouth and Ocean Counties, where 4 to 6 inches of snow had fallen by about 8 p.m. and winds were gusting up to 40 m.p.h., said meteorologist Dean Iovino of the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

Areas west and south saw much less precipitation and wind, he said.

Though the snow and rain were expected to largely end early Thursday, Iovino predicted "minimal to moderate tidal flooding after midnight along the coast."

That the storm has failed to live up to its ferocious billing in this area has not drawn complaints from barrier-island residents, property owners, emergency managers, public officials, or utility companies still cleaning up from Sandy.

Visiting Long Beach Island, where the nor'easter canceled a scheduled tour, Gov. Christie said he still isn't ready to let people return to its Sandy-ravaged beach towns.

"It's going to be a while," Christie said, adding that officials will be assessing whatever further damages caused by the nor'easter.

"We may take a setback in the next 24 hours," he said. "The weather is what it is, and we're just going to have to deal with it."

Christie said that over 360,000 New Jersey utility customers still were without power from Sandy, and Public Service Gas & Electric reported 60,000 more from the latest storm. And shortly before 9 p.m., Atlantic City Electric reported 8,180 customers without power in Atlantic County and 305 in Cape May County.

Christie added that 11,000 utility workers from all over the country were in New Jersey and that "we're going to keep them here."

Although it lacked Sandy's ferocity, the nor'easter had a flavor of deja vu for the locals.

"Does Mother Nature have it in for us or what!?" asked Jeanne Lynskey of Northfield.

At midday around high tide, flooding occurred in the usual places, including Chelsea Heights, Brigantine's North End, and portions of Ventnor Heights.

Water rose around sofas and mattresses still waiting for pickup, even as Ventnor and Atlantic City brought in large vehicles to collect the discarded belongings ruined by Sandy's flooding.

Just before nightfall, the precipitation changed to all snow and cast a wintry glaze over the chopped up dunes, piled-up sand, ruined belongings, and broken-up dune fencing.

A total of 3 inches of snow was reported at Estelle Manor, Atlantic County.

But the beaches also got a break with the storm maturing well offshore. Winds circulate counterclockwise around centers of low pressure; thus the Shore towns experienced winds from the north rather that from the east.

The north winds also probably meant less precipitation because "you didn't have an Atlantic contribution," said Tony Gigi, meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly.

The storm did cause some minor disruptions during the day, forcing the cancellation of about 10 percent of flights at Philadelphia International Airport, and incoming flights were delayed an average of an hour and 42 minutes, said Victoria Lupica, spokeswoman for the Airport. Some schools dismissed pupils early.

But for the airport and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which were loaded for bear, the nor'easter was more or less a dress rehearsal for winter trauma to come.

The Weather Channel did think enough of it to name it "Athena," the first storm so designated under a system that has been viewed skeptically elsewhere in the weather community.

"In this day and age, you need a hashtag," said the Weather Channel's Bryan Norcross, adding that the aim of the naming system was to "raise awareness" of potentially dangerous storms.

The National Weather Service has said it would participate in such a naming system, and Joel Myers, founder of Weather Channel rival AccuWeather, called the system "a clever media device."

But even if the storm did have a name, it was no Sandy.