Temperatures Forecast to be in Low to Mid 50s for Thanksgiving
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ—It is Thanksgiving Eve across Central Jersey and the rest of the Garden State, and Big Central Gridiron is getting ready for the holiday and its first ever Turkey Day Round Robin with coverage of three of the Big Central’s Thanksgiving Games on Thursday. The weather is expected to be pleasant with temperatures moderating into the low to mid 50s for highs on Thursday.
This week began with a storm system pushing through late Sunday night into Monday. The system brought some rain, but really ushered in gusty winds and the coldest temperatures yet this season around the region. After a high of 42 on Tuesday afternoon, the thermometer plummeted to only 21 at Somerville Airport on Wednesday morning.
Looking around the region including Northern New Jersey, Southern New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania, lows bottomed out at 20 in places such as Pottstown, Pennsylvania and Millville in Cumberland County, New Jersey, and as high as 32 at the Atlantic City Marina. The National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly is forecasting highs reaching anywhere from 41 in the Poconos to 48 in New Brunswick, Philadelphia, and Wilmington, Delaware.
Skies are expected to be clear and sunny on Wednesday afternoon while becoming a bit more cloudy, but still nice on Thanksgiving. NWS Mount Holly indicates partly sunny skies for Turkey Day with high temperatures ranging from 50 in the Poconos to 54 in New Brunswick to 55 in Atlantic City, Cape May, and Philadelphia, and 56 in Wilmington, Dover, and Bethany Beach in Delaware.
Weather for the Big Central Gridiron Thanksgiving Day Round Robin and North Jersey Group 3 Regional Championship
More specifically for the BCG Turkey Day Round Robin on Thanksgiving, the low temperature at Herm Shaw Field in Roselle Park will be around freezing in the morning before rising up to 54 for a high in the afternoon following the game. Scheduled game time for the annual clash between the Panthers and arch rival Roselle will be at 10:00 AM, and Accu-Weather is indicating a kickoff temperature of 43 degrees under partly sunny skies.
Meanwhile, over at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, the low will get down below freezing into the upper 20s in the morning before climbing back up to around 44 degrees by the 10:30 AM kickoff of the contest between the hometown Highlanders and New Providence. Temperatures will reach a high of 55 in the afternoon following the game.
Finally, at Hub Stine Field in Plainfield, the temperature is also expected to drop to below freezing into the upper 20s overnight Wednesday into Thanksgiving morning on Thursday. The mercury will then climb into the upper 40s by game time of the annual Turkey Day rivalry game between the hometown Cardinals and arch rival Westfield at 11:00 AM. The afternoon high will reach into the mid 50s following the game.
Looking ahead to Friday, and the 2021 North Jersey Group 3 Regional Championship Game between Cranford and West Morris Central at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, the National Weather Service Office in New York City indicates rain will be moving in for Thursday night into Friday, and a 30 percent chance of showers lingering into the afternoon around game time at 4:00 PM. Friday’s afternoon high expected to be just below 50.
Last Weekend in Review
Stepping back to last weekend, the weather was quite cold on Friday night with temperatures falling through the 40s and 30s to a low of 26 in New Brunswick. So, you had to find a way to keep warm during the Central Jersey Group 5 Championship Game between North Brunswick and Hillsborough. Skies were clear and the winds were calm to light though so conditions were adequate for football.
On Saturday at Oradell in Bergen County, the thermometer climbed to around 50 after a morning low in the upper 20s. Skies were bright, blue, sunny and clear. The winds were light, and conditions couldn’t be better for football in the Non-Public A Semifinals between Bergen Catholic and St. Peter’s Prep held at Bergen Catholic High School on Saturday afternoon.
Lunar Eclipse
Did anyone get a chance to see the lunar eclipse overnight last Thursday into this past Friday morning? Skies were cloudy with some rain during the evening on Thursday, but they cleared just in time for the eclipse. After a cloudy start around at 1:00 AM on Friday, skies eventually cleared out for the peak portion of the event with the eclipse becoming noticeable around 2:20 AM and becoming near total at approximately 4:03 AM.
The eclipse lasted in total about 3.5 hours, which was the longest in about 580 years. The eclipse came at a time when there was a full moon. The beaver moon, which the November full moon is called emerged on Wednesday night, and then was still almost completely full when the eclipse got underway. The effect produced by the earth’s shadow getting between the sun and the moon produced a reddish glow, and a blood moon.
