Another Round of Stormy Weather This Weekend
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – For the fourth time in the past five weeks, the Central Jersey area will have to deal with rough weather. The bulk of this week’s weather is supposed to come in on Friday night and last into Saturday. It also may not be the last will see the rain over the next couple weeks.
A strong storm system is moving eastward from the Midwestern United States and will team up with what’s left of Tropical Storm Philippe, which is heading north from Bermuda to Northeastern New England and the Canadian Maritimes. This will produce another powerful storm with heavy rains overnight Friday into Saturday.
September 2023 ended with 9.63 inches of rain at Greg’s Weather Center in South Plainfield, New Jersey. It marked the second time in the past three years that GWC has had over 9 inches of rain in the month of September. If you recall, the remnants of Hurricane Ida contributed to over 10 inches of rain for the month of September 2021.
Coming into the start of Week 6 action on Friday night, the month of October has started off warm, but dry. On Tuesday, the high temperature climbed to 80 degrees at GWC and then topped out at 83 degrees on Wednesday. Thursday ended up being just a bit cooler at 78 in South Plainfield. Fortunately, there was no measurable rainfall for the month through Friday afternoon.
However, that is expected to change over the next 12 to 24 hours. After some morning fog, the skies remained overcast as showers and thunderstorms were moving in from both the south and west. A cold front that has been responsible for severe weather in the mid-section of the country has moved into Pennsylvania.
This frontal system will help usher in more fall-like weather, but not before bringing some rain to the Northeast and New England. Meanwhile, Philippe became post-tropical this morning, but will still pack a punch as it heads northward. The storm is forecast to move over portions of Atlantic Canada and New England this weekend and bring heavy rainfall and gusty winds.
Closer to home, five counties in Northeastern New Jersey including Union County as well as Southeastern New York, New York City’s five boroughs, and Nassau County on Long Island are currently under a Flood Watch. Last week, those areas were hit hard by torrential rains that totaled over 8 inches from the remnants of Tropical Storm Ophelia.
Presently, there are no watches out for Middlesex County and the rest of Central Jersey. The forecast for tonight’s clash between Monroe and Old Bridge is calling for the rain to start sometime Friday afternoon and continue through the evening and into Saturday morning. There is also a chance for showers during the afternoon and early evening. The total rainfall amount could be anywhere between half an inch and an inch.
Temperatures are currently in the low to mid 70s, and won’t fall too much through the evening. The overnight low will get down to the low 60s on Saturday morning before climbing up into the low 70s on Saturday afternoon. Then the thermometer will plummet a bit as the cooler and drier air moves in. Lows on Saturday night could fall into the mid to upper 40s.
Forecast models also indicate that the wet weather might not end for a while. A blocking pattern is setting up over Hudson Bay in Canada and will stretch eastward toward Greenland. This blocking ridge will cause the incoming trough of low pressure to linger for a while. So, the wet weather that will be coming through this weekend may return periodically over the next couple of weeks.
