BCG Weather Report – September 1, 2026

The weather theme for Week 1 could be a bit of a repeat of Week 0 with another round of heat and humidity along with severe storms.

Another Stormy Pattern Threatens Schedule for Week 1

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – Last week the first round of Week 0 games were imperiled by the latest round of storms to plague Central Jersey this summer.  Opening night of the 2026 New Jersey High School football season was delayed for many teams in the Big Central Conference as storms produced torrential downpours that flooded roads around the region on Thursday.  At Greg’s Weather Center in South Plainfield, NJ, nearly three-quarters of an inch of rain fell during the afternoon with a peak rainfall rate of 3.43 inches per hour just after 1:00 PM.  

Heading into Week 1, which gets underway on Thursday evening, there is another stormy pattern threatening the schedule.  The National Weather Service has been monitoring a frontal boundary that is currently over the Mid-Atlantic region.  The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma indicated as early as this past weekend that there was a possibility of strong to severe storms affecting the Garden State during the middle of the week.  A “Ring of Fire” pattern has emerged over the Mid-Atlantic with a ridge moving into the Ohio Valley and a front over the area.

What is meant by a “Ring of Fire?”   In weather terms, it is when a large dome of high pressure settles into a portion of the country, and severe weather in the form of thunderstorms with damaging wind, hail, torrential rain, and even tornadoes develop around the periphery of the high.  The pattern has impacted the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic quite a few times over the past two summers.  Over the past two months, Central Jersey endured several instances of severe thunderstorms, including microbursts as a result of the Ring of Fire pattern.  

Microbursts are severe thunderstorms with a small, powerful column of sinking air inside that hits the ground and spreads out in fast, dangerous straight-line winds.  On July 3rd last year, a microburst produced powerful straight line winds that downed trees throughout the Plainfields.  A similar storm struck the northeastern section of South Plainfield and neighboring North Edison on July 27th, and produced torrential rains that totaled five inches in some neighborhoods, and tropical storm force winds and hail in others.  The latest microburst occurred on August 7th, and produced damaging winds that uprooted trees, hail, and heavy rain.

The August 7th storm brought down a tree at Greg’s Weather Center, while producing a rainfall rate of 14.05 inches per hour and a total of 1.36 inches.  Over the past two years, there have been approximately a dozen severe storms in June and July that impacted GWC in some form.  At least four of them were microbursts.  Before July and August came along, Northwestern Middlesex County was looking at a drought emergency.  Since these latest rounds of severe storms, the rainfall total at GWC has more than doubled.  The total rainfall from July and August (14.2 inches) combined represents 52 percent of the total rainfall to date (27.26 inches) in 2026.

July’s total of 6.46 inches places it 14th on GWC’s all-time list of wettest months, while August comes in at No. 9 with 7.74 inches.  Last July ranks seventh on the list with 8.27 inches.  Two years ago, Central Jersey was in the grips of a terrible drought, where there was no measurable rainfall for nearly two months.  Greg’s Weather Center didn’t receive a drop of rain for the entire month of October 2024.  Since then, the rainfall pattern has been more characteristic of a roller coaster ride.  

What does this mean when it comes to the Big Central Conference’s Week 1 schedule that starts on Thursday?  It could mean more games being postponed to at least Friday night.  Tuesday begins a three day severe weather event across the Mid-Atlantic.  All three days have been marked either marginal or slight risk by the Storm Prediction Center.  Marginal risk is a 20 percent chance, while a slight risk is 40 percent.  Storms that develop over the Central Jersey area during these three days could produce torrential rain, damaging winds, hail, and perhaps a tornado.  

Games during the early part of football season can be problematic since summer is just beginning to transition into fall.  As a result, there will likely be days in early to mid-September, where temperatures will run into the 80s and in some cases into the 90s with some humidity.  To date in 2026, GWC has had 91 days of 80 degree weather.  When there is heat and humidity, there will be storms.  Even if the storms aren’t as severe as they have been to date this summer, they can still produce lightning, which could result in delays during the contests.  In BCG’s first season back in 2021, there were a couple of rain delays at the Battle at the Beach in Ocean City.

Looking at Thursday’s weather, there is a 66 percent chance of storms during the day.  At least a quarter of an inch is expected at GWC in South Plainfield.  The SPC placed New Jersey under a marginal risk for severe weather on Thursday.  Another aspect of this weather pattern that will impact the game regardless of storms will be the humidity.  Currently, the humidity is 52 percent at GWC.  Couple that with a temperature of 85 degrees, the dew point is 66.  The high humidity will likely produce a lot of leg cramps during the course of Thursday’s games.  It is important that the players drink plenty of fluids before their contests on Thursday evening.