New Jersey faces at least two more days of excessive heat and humidity as this week's heat wave comes to an end over the weekend as the heat index rose well above 100 around the state.

heat index chart
Heat index chart (NOAA)
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Fisherman in Bradley Beach
Fisherman in Bradley Beach (Bud McCormick)
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At noon the heat index reached 119 in Burlington County, 116 in Glassboro, 113 in Hamilton Township in Mercer County and in Woodbridge according to the Rutgers Weather Climate Network map.

Temperatures climbed quickly into the 90s around the state by mid morning.

The shore offered little relief with heat indexes of 107 in Wall, 103 in Cape May and Manahawkin and 104 in Sayreville.

Most of the state is under an Excessive Heat Warning  or Heat Advisory as temperature reach the mid 90s with high humidity combining for a heat index of 105 - 110 degrees.

“This is as bad as it gets around here,” David Robinson, state climatologist at Rutgers University told the Star Ledger. . “There’s just no escaping it. The heat has infiltrated the walls of buildings. After five days, you’re just not able to rid anywhere of the daytime heat.”

Similar warnings will likely be posted for Saturday for the heat wave's final day as strong thunderstorms are expected for form along a slow moving cold front that will stall to the south on Sunday. Temperatures will be in the 80s with lower humidity and the threat of thunderstorm each day next week.

A strong line of thunderstorms formed on Thursday evening and moved across Burlington County and southern Ocean County prompting a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for a time. More storms could also form today.

In addition, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has issued a Code Orange Air Quality Alert for unhealthy air that could cause problems for the children, those with asthma, heart disease or lung diseases and the elderly.

If you are outdoors, the National Weather Service suggests you stay out of the direct sun, drink plenty of fluids, rest frequently and wear light weight clothing especially between 11a.m. and 8 a.m, the hottest part of the day.

Amtrak will continue to monitor rail temperatures and reduce speeds when they reach 120 degrees which could cause 10-20 minute delays for both Amtrak and NJ Transit service on the Northeast Corridor.

New Jersey power companies are keeping up with outages in their respective service areas. Scattered outages have occured daily during the heat wave but there have no calls for reduction in usage.

 

 


 


(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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