By Meteorologist John Cifelli
New Jersey residents may have been tempted to don Hawaiian shirts and shake up margaritas today, as high temperatures were at or slightly above freezing with the sun out for the first time in a long time! Our brief respite will go as quickly as it came, as a cold front crosses the state this evening.
Our next chilly blast of arctic air will press across New Jersey after dark tonight. The frontal passage could touch off a few snow showers or even a brief burst of moderate snow before midnight. Don’t be shocked to find a fresh coating on your car tomorrow morning. Also, be ready for another nasty cold morning tomorrow, as temperatures to greet you for the morning commute will be in the low teens, and a light wind will be back across New Jersey tomorrow as well. Wind chills will once again be in the single digits or near zero. The core of the cold is centered on New Jersey Thursday and Friday. Once again, low temperatures Thursday will challenge zero degrees for the northern half of the state, and Friday highs look to be just in the teens.
The good news this time is that the cold is transient, and after a cold start to Saturday, we will see the most recent polar air mass retreat as the next storm approaches. Saturday’s highs will climb into the 30s, but precipitation moves into the area in the afternoon. It will likely start as a period of snow for all of New Jersey, but the surface low track will be to the west of New Jersey. This will overwhelm the cold with warm air dragged northward from the south, transitioning snow to sleet and then rain. Unfortunately this system right now looks like a slow mover, so most of Sunday looks questionable weather wise as well.
As the storm lifts into New England, seasonable cold will work back across the state. We will have to keep an eye out for the possibility of flash freezing, particularly since any snow melt will contribute to the liquid on the road.
Prepare again for potentially record breaking cold Thursday and Friday nights, and stay tuned for updates on a snow to rain scenario for the weekend.