The Bottom Line

I really don't have much to talk about here. We're under high pressure and "zonal flow" this week, when the motion of the atmosphere generally moves in a straight line from west to east. So air stays in one "zone," leading to consistent temperatures and quiet weather. This pattern will prevent any kind of winter storm superhighway from setting up on top of New Jersey too.

The GFS model forecast for midday Tuesday shows dormant, stagnant weather across most of the continental United States, including New Jersey. (Tropical Tidbits)
The GFS model forecast for midday Tuesday shows dormant, stagnant weather across most of the continental United States, including New Jersey. (Tropical Tidbits)
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Tuesday

Temperatures Tuesday morning are in the 30s. Above freezing for most of the state. That's unusually warm for early January, 10+ degrees above normal.

Skies will remain pretty dreary and unsettled, with lots of cloud cover. A few flurries and sprinkles will be possible at any time — especially early and late in the day. Thermometers will only climb a few degrees, with forecast highs just barely passing 40 degrees.

Tuesday night will remain mostly cloudy. A light freeze is likely away from coastal and urban areas, with lows around 30 degrees.

Wednesday

The sun will come out, with a nuisance northwesterly breeze up to 20 mph. High temperatures will still be in the neighborhood of seasonal norms, in the lower 40s. Not bad. Nothing remarkable.

Thursday

Probably the nicest (read: warmest) day of the week. More sunshine. Light winds. Highs in the mid 40s.

Friday

The next storm system to impact the U.S. East Coast will arrive on Friday. But model consensus is now strongly pointing to a southern track, keeping the storm about 200-250 miles away from Cape May. That means we can leave rain and snow out of the forecast (for now, at least). We'll just see clouds, a breeze, and cool temperatures. Highs will scale back slightly to the lower 40s.

The Extended Forecast

Still nothing going on, as we head into the second weekend of 2021. Sunshine and lower 40s Saturday. Increasing clouds and upper 30s Sunday.

Our next opportunity for a storm system of any significance is Monday. Six days away, models are still all over the place on the exact track and impacts. But I'll be honest — we'd have to see a pretty significant shift in that "zonal flow" pattern to see any substantial winter weather through the midpoint of January. Sorry, snow-lovers!

Dan Zarrow is Chief Meteorologist for Townsquare Media New Jersey. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter for the latest forecast and realtime weather updates.

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