Morning Roundup: Humid, unsettled weather continues

A near-tropical airmass has settled into the region over the past few days, with high dew points and temperatures in the 80’s creating uncomfortably sticky conditions. This airmass, most notably, was a major factor in the flooding rains and thunderstorms over parts of Northeast New Jersey on Wednesday. While much of the area saw little rain, isolated locations saw totals upwards of one inch, with isolated spots receiving more. Training thunderstorms produced 6.24″ of rainfall in less than 3 hours in Mountainside, NJ.

Today, the airmass will remain warm and humid with a southeasterly flow in the low levels continuing to draw in air off the ocean waters. The best forcing for thunderstorm development will remain back to our west, but a few isolated storms cannot be ruled out. These will, again, be capable of producing extremely heavy rain. The frontal boundary associated with this storm system won’t actually cross the region until Friday afternoon. Here are some highlights from around the meteorological community:

  • Torrential rains produced over 6″ of rain in less than 3 hours in Mountainside, NJ yesterday. Widespread flooding including damage to roads was reported in Mountainside and Scotch Plains. 
  • Thunderstorms with torrential rains will again be possible today, but are expected to generally stay farther west than on Wednesday. The airmass, however, will remain very humid and warm.
  • A frontal boundary associated with the storm system over the Central US will finally approach the area on Friday, with the humid and uncomfortable airmass finally scouring out by Friday evening.
  • Saturday looks likely to be a beautiful day with lower humidity, west winds, and highs in the lower to middle 80’s.