No big changes: staying cold and mostly quiet this week

Temperatures will stay cold, and our weather will remain mostly quiet, with just a couple of chances for light snow through the end of the month.

Here are your weather headlines for Wednesday, February 25, 2015...

No Big Warmups

I’m keeping an eagle-eye on the extended forecast, looking for any signs of a permanent warm-up. It’s still a bit nope... But there will be a few brief shots of warm air that give some hope that the big bad polar vortex is slowing down for the year.

Today will feature a slight warm-up on thermometers, but as winds kick up, it won’t feel much warmer. Still, with temperatures in the mid 30s and sunshine this morning, we should get some good snow and ice melt, so it’s not a total loss of a day.

The next hint of warmth is slotted for Monday, as temperatures return to near-normal for a day or so. Normals around this time of year, by the way, are now 45° to 48° for New Jersey.

No Big Snow Storms

There will be a few weak disturbances that pass by New Jersey through the rest of the week, each of which will provide a weak chance for precipitation. The first will be a potential glancing blow by a system headed out to sea on Thursday. If the northwest sector of this system clips South Jersey, and if the air isn’t too dry to produce precipitation, we could see a few hours worth of snow. I’ve put a coating to a half-inch of accumulation in the forecast - as I discussed yesterday, this system really does not look to be a big deal. Best chance for those snowflakes would be in South Jersey, between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thursday.

Another chance for a stray snow shower will be possible on Friday, but I’m even less confident that this one will even happen.

The next chance for a “big” weather event looks to come early Monday morning. With high temperatures on Monday in the 40s across the state, this would be a rain-to-snow event. There is also a chance for snow on Tuesday of next week; the combination of these two systems could produce at least a few inches of snow accumulation. However, it is way too early to nail down the timing and impacts.

Have a Great Weekend!

Just a quick personal programming note... I’ve decided to seize the opportunity of the quiet weather for the rest of the week and this weekend, and I’m finally going on a honeymoon with my wonderful wife! (Woo-hoo!) We’re heading to New York City for an extended weekend, for a marathon of Broadway shows, playing "tourist", and eating some amazing food. Don’t worry, you’ll be in good hands with the weather forecast both on-air and online... but this daily weather blog will be on a brief hiatus until Monday. See you then!