NJ weather: Somewhat calmer and not as ferociously hot Tuesday
An interesting statistic for you... So far in 2019, according to Storm Prediction Center storm reports, New Jersey has seen 30 severe weather days. That's a lot! (This count includes any day where at least one instance of wind damage, a wind gust of 58+ mph, quarter-size hail, or a tornado was reported.)
Monday's fierce storms brought some pretty serious severe weather to the Garden State:
—75 mph wind gust at Forked River, Ocean County
—Ping-pong ball size hail (1.50") at Ellisburg, Camden County
—Numerous trees down and power outages throughout Burlington, Camden, Ocean, and Monmouth counties
—Possible waterspout off the coast of Seaside Park
As the headline of this forecast suggests, Tuesday won't be quite as stormy or steamy as the past two days. But we still have three more days before real relief from heat, humidity, and thunderstorms will arrive.
Monday's thunderstorms were actually sparked by a weak cold front. Our new air mass is slightly cooler, and not much drier — so it's still going to be a very warm, sticky day. Tuesday morning temperatures are mostly in the 70s, and we'll top out between 85 and 90 degrees Tuesday afternoon. Skies will range from partly to mostly cloudy — I suspect the Jersey Shore will have the thickest clouds as the day presses on.
A Heat Advisory continues until 8 p.m. for the Philadelphia metro area, including Mercer, NW Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties. The heat index (or "feels like" or "apparent" temperature) may reach 98 degrees during the heat of the day.
We'll be on the lookout for popup showers and thunderstorms again Tuesday, but they should remain isolated — in other words, most of NJ will stay dry. While a strong storm or localized downpour is possible, I do not expect widespread severe weather. Most likely timing of raindrops will be from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Most likely location of a stray storm will be along the southern and western edges of New Jersey.
I'll keep a shower chance in the forecast for Tuesday night. Another muggy night, low temps will only dip into the lower 70s yet again.
Wednesday looks like a pretty active weather day, with three distinct headlines:
1.) Wednesday morning... A batch of rain will clip the northern half of NJ through the first half of the day.
2.) Wednesday afternoon... Another hot, humid day with highs temperatures in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees.
3.) Wednesday evening... Strong thunderstorms will likely impact the entire state.
We'll have to endure one more steamy and potentially stormy day on Thursday. High temps will once again peak in the upper 80s to around 90 degrees, despite mostly cloudy skies. Our final round of thunderstorms is expected from Thursday late afternoon through Thursday evening.
Our big cold front arrives Thursday night, and cooler, drier air will immediately start flowing into the Garden State. Having said that, some lingering shower activity will be possible as you wake up Friday morning. Then our weather turns sunny, breezy, cooler, and drier.
High temperatures on Friday will be limited to the mid to upper 70s. What a difference!
The refreshing and dry weather should carry into the final full weekend of August too. High temperatures for Saturday and Sunday will be closer to 80 degrees with abundant sunshine. That kind of forecast gets a big thumbs up!
We may cool down even more on Monday as a backdoor cold front enhances our on-shore flow and delivers an isolated shower. Honestly, the rest of August looks mainly dry and pleasant — two more thumbs up!