BCG Weather Report – October 18, 2024

The Hunter’s Supermoon was shining brightly down on Memorial Field in Cranford on Friday evening during the game between the hometown Cougars and visiting Colonia.

Temperatures Moderate for Week 7 Games After Coldest Weather of Season

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – Earlier this week, a cold front came through and brought with it the coldest weather yet this fall to Central Jersey.  Frost Advisories popped up across the Garden State as temperatures dipped into the low 40s and then mid-to-upper 30s for morning lows.  By Thursday though, the sun and the atmosphere began to moderate in time for Week 7 games.

Big Central Gridiron traveled to its first game of the week on Friday night at Cranford with conditions feeling more balmy than they had been the previous several days.  According to Greg’s Weather Center in South Plainfield, NJ, the temperature reached a high of 67 at 3:10 PM after a morning low of 35.  The diurnal range of temperature was 32 degrees

Temperatures moderated around Central Jersey on Friday. The high at GWC in South Plainfield was eight degrees higher than it was on Thursday.

The high temperature on Friday was eight degrees warmer than it was on Thursday.  The morning low was the same at 35.  Fast forward to Saturday morning, and the low temperature was a bit warmer at 37 degrees.  Currently, the temperature at GWC is up to 39 en route to a forecast high in the low 70s.

The reason for this recent chill has been a strong area of high pressure that has settled into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.  Currently, the barometer is steady at 30.49 inches or about 1033 millibars.  Standard atmospheric pressure is usually 29.53 inches or 1000 millibars.  The good news is that the strong high pressure has provided a buffer for any tropical systems that may develop in the Atlantic.

Strong high pressure has been in place over Central Jersey since Monday.

The growing concern has been the lack of rain around the Garden State.  The last significant rainfall came at the end of last month, and it wasn’t much.  From September 26th to September 29th, only 0.58 inches fell at GWC.  Since the torrential rains over the first nine days of August, there has been only 2.04 inches of rain at GWC.

BCG plans to cover two games on Saturday.  The first game will be at Brenner Family Field in Metuchen where 7th-ranked St. Joseph’s hosts top-ranked St. Thomas Aquinas.  This game will mark the first time these two teams have played each other since the 2015 season.  The two schools have only played four times with the Falcons winning all of the contests.

Time-lapse video of the skies clearing out over GWC in South Plainfield after a cold front passed through on Monday.

The game between the Falcons and the Trojans is scheduled to kick off at 11:00 AM.  According to the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, NJ, the game-time temperature will be around 60 degrees.  The temperature is expected to rise into the upper 60s by the end of the game.  The winds will start out of the North-Northeast and then shift to the South during the game.  Winds will be light.

Following the contest between Joes and Aquinas, Big Central Gridiron will head out on the road again to Northwest Jersey for the regional rivalry game between Belvidere and North Warren.  This contest is a non-conference affair with Belvidere representing the Big Central Conference against the hometown Patriots from the Super Football Conference.

Time-lapse video of the fading sunlight over Piscataway, NJ on Tuesday evening.

The scheduled kickoff time for the game between the Seaters and the Patriots is 3:00 PM.  By that time, the temperature will be approaching the forecast afternoon high of 73.  Winds will be shifting around to the West-Southwest by game time, and then turning more West-Northwest.  Winds will be very light.

Temperatures will be falling into the lower 60s by the end of the contest.  Both of these contests on Saturday will have plenty of sunshine.  Over the past several days, the largest moon of the year, the Hunter’s Supermoon has put on quite a show thanks to the clear skies over Central Jersey.  The A3 comet is also climbing higher in the sky but will become less visible as it heads out of our solar system by the end of the month.

Football weather is here!