Gov. Mikie Sherrill lifted the State of Emergency declared across all 21 counties in New Jersey through an executive order, effective at 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 24, 2026, due to severe winter weather. Sherrill ended the state of emergency by executive order at noon on Jan. 26.
“From the minute I was sworn in as governor, my Administration has worked to ready our state for this weekend’s severe weather. I want to thank all the workers across our state who responded to this weather event with urgency and seamless coordination, keeping New Jerseyans safe and warm during the worst storm we’ve seen in a decade. I also want to thank all New Jerseyans who made the smart decision to stay off the roads this weekend,” said Governor Sherrill.
“The worst is over, but we are expecting bitterly cold temperatures throughout the week. Please continue to avoid unnecessary travel and be vigilant about ice.”
At a 12:00 p.m. press conference, Sherrill commended New Jersey residents for staying off the highways from what she called the worst storm to hit the state in a decade and said that enabled public workers to be able to get to the black top of roads sooner. Sherrill said the Department of Transportation allowed commercial vehicles on highways as of 9 a.m.
A massive winter storm dumped a foot or more of snow on New Jersey Jan. 25, wreaking havoc across the state, disrupting mass transit and tying up traffic on the state’s roads. Temperature highs will remain well below freezing throughout the week in much of New Jersey and overnight temperatures will tumble into the single digits.
“A prolonged period of frigid conditions are then expected with temperatures remaining below freezing this week,” according to the National Weather Service. Bone-chilling temperatures, icy roads, and frigid wind chills across New Jersey will make travel difficult and in places dangerous for the rest of the week.
NJ Transit says it phasing in operations, starting with all three light rail systems. The mass transit operator continues to ramp up service with the start of 21 bus routes in North, Central and South Jersey beginning at 10 a.m.
These routes are: North — 192, 193, 194 and 126; Central — 21 and 25; and South — 316, 319, 403, 404, 405, 408, 410, 412, 413, 419, 502, 551, 554, 605 and 606, These bus routes will be operating on a weekday schedule and customers should expect delays as roadway conditions are continuing to be addressed throughout the state.
The Newark Light Rail, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, and River LINE are running on a regular weekday schedule with delays of up to 15 minutes.
Though the storm has passed, the impact is still being felt at Newark Liberty International Airport. The airport had 457 cancellations and 125 total delays as of 1:24 p.m. United canceled 155, or 29% of flights, and 79, or 14% were delayed, the most of any airline at Newark Airport.
