Hitting the ‘reset’ button on spring: Sunny, seasonable Wednesday
Let's recap Tuesday's crazy temperatures, fueled by a pair of cold fronts. According to the NJ Weather and Climate Network at Rutgers University, high temps ranged from 51 degrees (Oceanport) to 73 degrees (several weather stations in SW NJ) — that's a huge range!
Much more consistent, even-keeled, seasonable weather has arrived for Wednesday. And, even though temperatures will be just below seasonal normals, the next few days look quite pleasant.
We're kicking off Wednesday morning with patchy fog (especially along the coast). Visibility has fallen as low as a quarter-mile, which is right on the edge of "dense" fog. Temperatures are in the mid 30s to mid 40s across the state. Highs are expected to reach the upper 50s to around 60 degrees Wednesday afternoon.
There will be some fair-weather clouds early and late Wednesday, but the bulk of the day will feature bright sunshine. A stiff breeze out of the northwest will blow between 10 and 20 mph throughout the day.
Wednesday night could be our coolest night in about a week and a half, as thermometers take a dip into the mid to upper 30s. A light freeze is possible among the higher elevations of NW NJ, if skies remain clear enough.
As skies become partly to mostly cloudy on Thursday, we'll end up a few degrees cooler, with highs in the mid 50s. Again, not bad at all — wear a jacket and you'll be fine.
Temperatures bounce back into the 60s on Friday, but cloud cover returns too. (With the southeasterly background wind blowing off the ocean, the Jersey Shore will be quite a bit cooler than the mainland.) There's an outside chance of a shower or sprinkle Friday morning, and winds may gust over 20 mph into Friday afternoon.
Friday daytime will be dry, but Friday night looks wet. A broken line of showers and thunderstorms is forecast to soak New Jersey from about 8 p.m. Friday (at the earliest) through Saturday morning.
So yes, we may kickoff the weekend with rain — just like last weekend, interestingly enough. I'm currently leaning toward a forecast that ends raindrops by about 8 a.m. — but it's still possible that raindrops linger throughout the morning. Aside from that hesitation, most of Saturday looks OK. It will be mostly cloudy. It will be fairly warm and humid, as highs pop into the 70s away from the coast.
Model guidance shows Sunday to be the cooler day of the weekend, with highs in the 60s. Again, not bad. However, your Sunday afternoon and evening plans are in jeopardy, as our next storm system comes into view. Periods of steady, occasionally heavy rain are expected from late Sunday through much of Monday. (The heaviest rain is currently modeled to fall Monday morning.) Confidence in this forecast is still a bit shaky — the exact timing of this medium-range rain chance is subject to wiggle either earlier or later as time goes on.
Temperatures fall during the day Monday, bringing us back to seasonable levels through the middle of next week. No widespread freezes and no snow/ice are in the forecast for New Jersey at this time.