Tempers Flare, Shelves Stripped in Central Jersey and Storm Arrives

Yahoo! News is gathering brief first-person accounts, photos and video from the severe winter weather in the northeastern United States. Here's one resident's story.

FIRST PERSON | MONROE TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Starting Thursday, residents here began stocking up on food, batteries, snow shovels, and gasoline. Those lucky enough to have generators don't want to risk running out of gas, which may be as hard to find after this storm as it was after 'Superstorm' Sandy.

Thousands of flights have been canceled at Newark and other New York-area airports. The parking lot at the local Stop & Shop was jammed, as people stripped shelves of milk, bread, and bottled water. Tempers frayed and a horn-blowing contest erupted over a parking space-- if the participants had not been senior citizens, fisticuffs would probably have taken place instead.

As of noon, the temperature is hovering around 30 degrees with a steady rain. The rain is expected to change to snow later this afternoon, with an accumulation of six to 12 inches forecast for central Jersey by the time the storm moves out.