Winter Breaks: Painting the Town Red

With Friday being the first warm day in a very long time, it almost seems like a joke that kids are heading off on winter break. Around town, birds were singing, there was a bounce in the steps of walkers on the Oval, and we even saw a cool Mustang convertible with the top down! The sun and the warmth are a sure cure for the blues.

This morning, preschoolers at Early School of Temple B'nai Abraham, used the spring thaw as their canvas, creating snow bank murals with paints made from natural and non-toxic pigment. Now that's what we call a spring celebration -- painting the snow red!

Not to put a damper on it, but what’s going to happen to all this snow?

We’re certainly in a "precarious position" for flooding when the snow melts, says state climatologist Dr. David A. Robinson.

Already the roads are taking a toll. With pot holes and wet patches, we’re just hoping the catch basins aren’t blocked when the melting starts. If so "some streets are going to turn into moats” if rain comes down, Robinson warned.

New Jersey's worst flooding situation in recent memory came during the blizzard of 1996, when temperatures rose to 50 degrees less than two weeks after storms in December and early January. There "was flooding all over the Northeast, including New Jersey," recalled Robinson, chairman of the geology department at Rutgers University.

We know the potholes are out there, and already the ones to avoid. The Department of Public Works has a pothole hotline,  (973) 535-7931 or email towngarage@livingstonnj.org

Crews from the Department of Public Works have been busy fixing the stuff that broke during the storms. On Thursday, that included a broken fire hydrant on Montgomery Road. Residents had complained that the hydrant appeared to be leaking after they spotted water flowing down their block, even on cold days when there was no thawing. The hydrant carried an "out of service" sign for a number of weeks until it was finally replaced, neighbors told Livingston Patch.

Patch editor Jacob Kamaras contributed to this story.