One more day of humidity and thunderstorms Monday
Drier, cooler, more comfortable weather is coming soon, I promise!
Here are your weather headlines for Monday, July 24, 2017...
Monday: Stormy Weather Ends
Mother Nature has been busy over the past week. High humidity has contributed to an almost daily threat of thunderstorms, and Sunday night-Monday morning was no different. Pockets of 3+ inches of rain, tons of lightning, and even a brief tornado threat plagued the Garden State. Hopefully the storms didn't disturb your sleep too badly.
As of this writing, the heavy rain has already cleared out of the southwestern corner of the state. The rain will continue moving northeast, probably clearing New Jersey by about 8 a.m. Monday morning. The severe weather threat appears to be over — it'll just be drenching rain through the first half of the morning commute.
Through Monday afternoon, scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to redevelop. Again, scattered — just a few raindrops, with the best chance in the early evening hours. Particularly in (warmer) South Jersey, those storms could once again be on the strong side. Heavy rain and gusty winds would be the biggest threats.
In between raindrops, Monday looks mostly cloudy and still humid. Meanwhile, forecast models suggest a wide range of temperatures too: Around 70 to the far north, near 80 through central and coastal NJ, and close to 90 to the south and west.
Any showers or storms should pulse down by Monday evening, with lots of leftover clouds overnight. Low temperatures should fall to the lower 60s in North Jersey and upper 60s in South Jersey.
Tuesday-Wednesday: A Farewell to Humidity
After a week of unsettled weather and horrendous humidity, we'll finally enjoy a taste of relief on Tuesday. Drier air will cause dew points to drop 10 to 15 degrees, leading to much more comfortable conditions.
In the meantime, it looks like this new air mass will be significantly cooler too. I expect statewide temperatures to end up in the 70s on Tuesday - that's give-or-take 10 degrees below normal for late July! Skies will be mostly to partly cloudy on Tuesday.
Wednesday will feature a bit more sunshine, pushing high temps to the upper 70s to lower 80s. The day may very well have a "springlike" feel to it. Pretty nice — I'll be catching up on yard work for sure!
Thursday-Friday: Warmer and Stormy Again
The slow warmup continues into Thursday too, with statewide highs returning to the 80s. Humidity will tick upward too, although it won't be nearly as sticky and steamy as last week.
Clouds will increase again on Thursday, leading up to our next storm system and next chance of significant rain. Right now, I'd call for convective (scattered) showers and thunderstorms starting around 4 p.m. Thursday, with the bigger push of rain from 10 p.m. into Friday. This timeline is very much subject to wiggle as the week presses on.
The early look at the last weekend of July is a good one! Highs for both Saturday and Sunday are forecast to reach the seasonable lower to mid 80s, with mostly to partly sunny skies and dry weather. My only concern is that winds may turn to the east-northeast — such an on-shore flow could lead to cooler temperatures and enhanced cloud cover, especially along the Jersey Shore.