Forecast: Monday the start of a long awaited warmup

Partly cloudy skies are expected early Monday, behind a disturbance in the mid levels in the atmosphere which will move through the area overnight and early Monday morning. Rising heights aloft by afternoon, however, will allow for clearing and mostly sunny skies during the day. Temperatures will rise by afternoon, into the 60’s and lower 70’s especially across Central and Northeast New Jersey as well as New York City. After several days of below normal temperatures to begin spring, the warm air will feel all the more pleasant.

At noon time on Monday, temperatures generally should be from the upper 60’s to low 70’s across New Jersey — and in the 60’s along the coastline with slightly cooler temperatures across Eastern Long Island and the NJ Coast.

A seabreeze is expected to develop by late afternoon, however, owing to developing southeast winds. The wind direction will usher in a marine layer off the cool ocean waters which will serve to cool temperatures down by afternoon across Long Island and New Jersey Shore. By late afternoon, the seabreeze should make some westward progress towards New York City and Northeast New Jersey as well. Some clouds and drizzle are expected Monday evening, with the potential for showers and even a rumble of thunder into Tuesday morning. The showers will form thanks to a weak low pressure system which will be riding along an approaching warm front. This warm front is important — it passes our area by Tuesday and will bring the potential for even warmer temperatures (near 80!) across parts of the area Tuesday afternoon.

Forecast high temperatures through mid-week. Graphic created Sunday April 7th at 10:50pm.

Forecast high temperatures through mid-week. Graphic created Sunday April 7th at 10:50pm.

The forecast becomes a bit more complicated from the middle of the week into the tail end of the week, with model guidance struggling to pinpoint the location of a warm front. The positioning of the front will have drastic implications on our weather — just a few miles could make a 10 to 20 degree temperature difference! For now, it appears most models are in good agreement that the warm front will clear our area to the north. For more details and technical reasoning and thoughts behind the forecast this week, check out our Forecast Discussion.

Monday: Partly cloudy early, then becoming mostly sunny. High in the upper 60’s to lower 70’s. A bit cooler near the coast. Winds west, shifting to southeast around 10 miles per hour by evening.

Monday Night: Becoming cooler and mostly cloudy. A chance of showers. Lows in the upper 40’s to low 50’s. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Tuesday: Partly cloudy early, then becoming mostly sunny. Warm. Highs in the upper 70’s to near 80. Warmer across Central New Jersey. Westwinds around 10 miles per hour.

Forecast: Weekend brings long awaited warmup for some

NAM model's forecast temperatures Sunday afternoon. Notice the sharp gradient along the coast. Much of NJ is in the middle 60's, while the NJ Shore and Long Island are in the 40's and 50's.

NAM model’s forecast temperatures Sunday afternoon. Notice the sharp gradient along the coast. Much of NJ is in the middle 60’s, while the NJ Shore and Long Island are in the 40’s and 50’s.

For now, the days of crisp winter-like cold air and blustery northwest winds will become a thing of the past. Building heights aloft and a moderating airmass will provide the foundation for a warming trend in temperatures this weekend, beginning on Friday. As a storm system skims our area and passes offshore (providing some showery conditions early Friday morning), clouds will thin by Friday afternoon and the sun is expected to return. Temperatures will rise into the upper 50’s to near 60 for highs. The air will feel especially warm when compared to the past several days of below-normal temperatures. Coastal regions will have trouble warming up — as south-southwest wind trajectory still brings winds off the cool ocean waters.

It won’t be a direct transition to warmth through next week– and it won’t be all fun and games near the coast.  Forecast models are in disarray with the positioning of a warm front this weekend, which will make its way towards the area on Saturday and Sunday. Read more

To Spring or not to Spring? That is the Question.

Upon waking up to another chilly morning, most of us are probably wondering when Spring is coming. For those west of NYC, it probably arrives on Monday and Tuesday, but for those east of New York City, we might have to wait until April 15th or so. Forecast models are struggling immensely with the positioning of a warm front for next week, which throws lots of wrenches into the forecast.

A storm system will head up the coast on Friday and shoot into the Canadian Maritimes this weekend, and strengthen as it does so. That will help to keep things relatively chilly for the weekend, with the cooler northerly flow behind it. Once that storm system gets far enough to our north, heights will begin to rise, and this is when the potential warm-up begins. This is also when the European model and the GFS model really begin to diverge. The biggest difference is the way they handle a huge upper level low in Canada. The GFS splits the ULL into two and elongates it, while the Euro keeps it one large entity that dominates the pattern. The differences begin as soon as 84 hours (Sunday morning), as the GFS is already showing signs of splitting the feature and elongating it, while the Euro is much more powerful. Implications of this will be explained shortly.

The 00z Euro has the ULL as a much more powerful feature.

The 00z Euro at 84 hours has the ULL as a much more powerful feature.

The 00z GFS at 84 hours is splitting the ULL and elongating it.

The 00z GFS at 84 hours is splitting the ULL and elongating it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One thing we do know is that it is clear that there are still remnants of the past blocking pattern in place. There are cutoff portions of very high heights in northern Canada; thus favoring closed off ULLs to form downstream. These patterns do not tend to run very warm, but the good news is that the core of the blocking for the most part is oriented a bit to the west of the NAO regions. Both models agree on a vigorous shortwave entering the Pacific NW, but it will not be allowed to race eastward, due to the ULL and the blocking. Thus, it is instead forced southward, underneath the block.
Read more

PM Update: Cool evening, slow warmup begins

NAM model showing a low pressure system with rain missing the area to the south and east on Friday. Some clouds and showers are still possible and should graze coastal areas.

NAM model showing a low pressure system with rain missing the area to the south and east on Friday. Some clouds and showers are still possible and should graze coastal areas.

Cold air remains settled into the area this evening, and Wednesday was another cold and blustery day. Temperatures remained several degrees below normal for this time of year. Another cold night is expected, as well, with overnight lows falling into the 20’s inland and near 30 in the city and along the coast. We could, in fact, see some temperatures approaching record lows for the date early Thursday morning. The good news, however, is that a slow moderation is expected through the end of the week and into the weekend.

A coastal system will brush the area from late Thursday into Friday, possibly providing some clouds and showers along the immediate shore. Behind the system rising heights aloft will bring the potential for warmer temperatures into the forecast by Friday through Sunday. Highs will reach into the 50’s this weekend. The warmup could become even more dramatic by the early to middle part of next week – but forecast models are still very inconsistent with the positioning of a warm front. If it clears our area, temperatures could soar into the 70’s. We will see!

Tonight: Cool and clear with lows falling into the 20’s and lower 30’s. Northwest winds continuing around 10 miles per hour.

Thursday: Partly cloudy and a bit warmer, with highs in the lower 50’s. Northwest winds around 10 to 15 miles per hour.

Thursday Night: Increasing clouds, with a low in the upper 30’s to near 40. South winds around 10 miles per hour.

Friday: Partly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers. Warmer, with a high near 57. North-northwest wind around 10 miles per hour.