Thursday NJ weather: More heat, humidity, and possible storms
Wednesday was a very busy day in the weather center. The day started with thunderstorms, in the early morning hours. The day ended with thunderstorms, with an evening Tornado Warning around Camden County. And in the middle, the most intense thunderstorms of the day. In fact, the long-track windstorm was officially declared a "derecho" — a long-track windstorm, with a wide swath of 60+ mph winds. New Jersey's top reported wind gust was 93 mph near Beach Haven, Long Beach Island, Ocean County. Meanwhile, record-breaking temperatures were as hot as 92 degrees, at Egg Harbor Township, Atlantic County.
As of this writing, we are still facing another 60 hours or so of pretty hot, very humid, and occasionally unsettled weather. Most of Thursday looks dry and generally quiet, allowing storm cleanup to continue. We're starting off with temperatures mainly in the 60s Thursday morning. And thermometers will aim for the upper 80s on average Thursday afternoon. For the second day in a row (and the second day in 2020), there could be some 90+ temps out there. Skies will be partly sunny. And I can't rule out a popup shower at some point.
It will be a different story Thursday evening, after about 5 p.m., as we have to watch the sky again for a round of scattered thunderstorms. Given the heat and humidity, heavy downpours, gusty winds, small hail, and frequent lightning are possible. However, the timing is in our favor here — around and after sunset, storms lose some of their fuel as temperatures cool. In addition, the storms look more scattered, more broken apart than on Wednesday. So not everyone will experience rain here.
After midnight Thursday night, our storm chance will fade. It will be sticky overnight, with low temps only falling to around 70 degrees.
Friday also looks unsettled, with another round of late-day showers and thunderstorms. I'm not seeing a huge "severe weather" risk (wind, hail, tornado) but we'll be monitoring the atmospheric parameters closely. Otherwise, it will be a mostly cloudy day with more unseasonably warm temperatures in the lower to mid 80s.
We'll have one more steamy and somewhat stormy day Saturday. Even though forecast models have notably backed off of the idea of widespread rain, I am keeping the chance for a few showers and thunderstorms alive, as a cold front meets our heat and humidity. Having said that, I think you'll find extended periods of quiet, summery weather — quite conducive to jumping in a swimming pool, I think. High temperatures are forecast to reach about 85 to 90 degrees.
Humidity will start to dial back slowly Saturday afternoon, and things will feel much more comfortable by Sunday. It will be very similar to last Sunday, in fact, with lots of sunshine and a refreshing north-northwest breeze. High temperatures will come down to the seasonable upper 70s.
And there's more good news for early next week, as the pleasantries continue! I'm seeing a bright and near-normal (80-ish) forecast for Monday, Tuesday, and probably Wednesday. Our next rain chance wouldn't come along until next Thursday. No complaints there!