Princeton was on high alert Monday as the municipality prepared for a storm that was projected to dump over a foot of snow in the Central New Jersey area and cause high winds and dangerous travel.

“It’s been upgraded to a blizzard,” Mayor Liz Lempert said Monday morning in between meetings about how to handle the storm. “With the high winds that are being projected, we’re expecting downed trees, wires, and power outages.”

An emergency operations center at Witherspoon Hall, 400 Witherspoon Street, was planned to open Monday evening and remain available to the public as long as necessary, Ms. Lempert said. The mayor declared a state of emergency in Princeton, mandating that cars be moved off the streets to keep roads free for emergency vehicles. Residents were to be informed via a reverse-911 notification.

Princeton schools were dismissed early on Monday. Trash pickup for Tuesday was cancelled and will take place on Thursday. Also rescheduled was Monday night’s meeting of Princeton Council, which was supposed to include a hearing on an ordinance regulating parking on Hamilton Avenue to allow bike lanes.

That hearing has been moved to the Tuesday, February 24 meeting, which was rescheduled from Monday, February 23 because of a hearing by the Department of Environmental Protection that night regarding the Transco pipeline (see accompanying story). Other ordinances scheduled for hearings this week have also been rescheduled.

Governor Chris Christie declared a state of emergency for New Jersey on Monday. All non-essential state employees were dismissed at 1 p.m., and state offices were closed for Tuesday. Travel was expected to be brought to a standstill from New York City to Portland, Maine, by the storm. Snow totals of more than two feet were expected from southern New Hampshire to central Long Island. At the New Jersey shore, coastal flooding was expected.

While this is the first significant snowstorm of the season, there is already a shortage of salt supplies. “Everybody is running short. The priority is going to the state and the county,” Ms. Lempert said. “But we’re focusing on the main roads. We’re at about 40 percent capacity right now.”

Power outages should be reported to PSE&G at their emergency number: (800-436-7734). “And if anyone wants to report a power outage to Access Princeton (924-4141), we can help keep track and continue to advocate for power to be put on,” Ms. Lempert said.