Monday NJ weather: Showers and clouds south, sunny and cool north
As of this writing, the start of Spring is only 60 hours away! This forecast is a bit cool, and even has some snowflakes in it. But there's plenty of quiet, seasonable weather to talk about for the Garden State too.
Monday's big weather story — and that's not saying much — is a very weak atmospheric impulse passing through southern New Jersey. Spotty snowflakes and raindrops will be possible throughout the day. I've seen some model guidance suggest a healthy coating of accumulation is possible — OK, that's fine, but temperatures are already a bit too warm to sustain much more accumulation. As I mentioned on social media over the weekend, I do not anticipate any travel concerns from the occasional shower activity.
Other than the showers, we'll see plentiful clouds in South Jersey throughout Monday. Farther north, it will be mostly to partly sunny. Monday afternoon's high temperatures will be similar to Sunday's, in the mid 40s — that is about 5 degrees below normal for this time of year.
Clearing skies will lead to seasonably chilly temperatures again for Monday night. Lows should fall to about the 30 degree mark.
Tuesday's forecast is quiet, with mostly sunny skies and high temps improving to the upper 40s to around 50 degrees.
The Vernal Equinox, the official beginning of Spring, will occur at 5:58 p.m. EDT on Wednesday. We'll welcome the new season with a sunny, seasonable, and generally pleasant weather day. Highs are expected to bump into the lower 50s.
We're always looking down the road for our next storm system, and that looks to arrive in New Jersey on Thursday. Periods of rain are forecast to spread across New Jersey between about 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Thursday — pretty much all day. Rainfall should be light to moderate, with about a quarter-inch of total rainfall. I don't see any thunderstorm or flooding potential.
As for wintry weather, yeah it might be cool enough for some snow early Thursday in far North Jersey only (along and above Interstate 80). Accumulation will be difficult given continued high temperatures in the lower 50s. But still worth watching this limited wintry potential as Thursday draws closer.
Temps cool slightly for Friday and Saturday, with highs around 50 and (at least) partial sunshine. Current models then suggest a warmup for Sunday, into the 60s.
We still can't completely close the record books on wintry weather for the season just yet. Having said that, there are no arctic blasts, large warmups, or major winter storms on the horizon.