GWC Weather Journal–August 11-16, 2016

Here is a weather journal that I kept during the three days of heat and humidity at GWC in South Plainfield, NJ.

August 11, 2016

11:59 AM–Just took a look outside. Skies are partly cloudy and it feels very muggy. Temperature is up to 88 degrees with a dew point of 79 for a heat index of 102.

3:26 PM–Very oppressive conditions outside. Temperature is at 91 after reaching a high of 92 degrees. Dew point is downright tropical at 80 degrees. Heat index up to 112. Just was outside and saw quite a bit of cumulus clouds while in Spring Lake Park.

3:29 PM–National Weather Service has issued a Excessive Heat Watch for much of New Jersey starting Saturday afternoon and lasting until Sunday evening. Heat index values could peak around 110 degrees on Saturday and 107 on Sunday.

7:35 PM–High temperature at GWC in South Plainfield, NJ on Thursday was 93 degrees. Dew point peaked at 81 degrees while the heat index was oppressive at 115.

10:57 PM–Radar showing large cluster of showers and storms moving about to move into Northern New Jersey.

11:59 PM–Checked outside. Light rain starting to fall. Lightning in the distance. Radar now showing storms about to hit GWC.


August 12, 2016

7:51 AM–Woke up a little while ago. Windows to the front porch door are all fogged up because of the tropical air we have in place, and the cold air inside in the living room. Temperature is 74 degrees with a dew point of 74. Humidity is at 98 percent. Heat index is up to 78. Outside there are already cirrocumulus clouds forming. The air already feels very muggy.

9:38 AM–Just returned from doing my morning walk. Very humid outside. Worked up a really good sweat out there. Cirrocumulus clouds continue to develop. Lots of dew in the backyard. Sun not strong yet. Temperature is 80 degrees with humidity of 95 percent for a dew point of 78. Heat index up to 89. Barometer steady at 29.90 inches of Hg. Total rain from storms early this morning was only 0.03 inches.

12:28 PM–Checked the latest conditions at GWC in South Plainfield, NJ. Temperature is now up to 89 degrees. Dew point is downright tropical at 80 degrees. Heat index is up to 106. Barometer is falling at 29.88 inches of Hg. Looking at the sky conditions, there are some puffy cumulus clouds overhead. Feels like a furnace outside.

1:38 PM–Looked at the latest weather conditions at the GWC WX Station. Temperature is up to 91 degrees with humidity at 71 percent for a dew point of 81. Heat index is now up to 111 degrees. Barometer still falling at 29.84 inches.

3:06 PM–Just checked the time lapse video being recorded on the old iPhone 5s that I have in the yard. Still very hot and humid. Plenty of cumulus clouds around. Temperature is now up to 93 degrees. Humidity is at 65 percent for a dew point of 79 degrees. Heat index is 112 degrees. Barometer continues to fall at 29.83 inches of Hg.

5:08 PM–Just checked conditions at the GWC WX Station. Temperature is at the high for the day at 93 degrees. Dew point peaked at 81 degrees. Heat index topped out at 118. Currently, the dew point is down to 78 while the heat index has dropped off to 111.

6:15 PM–Thunderstorm moving through with lots of lightning and some gusty winds. Not a lot of rain though. Only 0.02 inches.

7:53 PM–Temperature dropped to 78 degrees. Humidity is at 88 percent. Dew point is still high at 75. Heat index is down to 83 degrees. Barometer is steady at 29.84 inches of Hg.


August 13, 2016

6:52 AM–Getting ready to head out to Trenton Catholic Academy for some games from the 2016 Summer Primetime Shootout. Relatively speaking, conditions are comfortable, but there is a lot of moisture in the air. Lots of dew on the ground. Windows on the porch door are fogged up.

11:15 AM–Leaving Trenton Catholic, and you can feel the heat and humidity once you got out of the gym. I was quite surprised how comfortable conditions were in the gym. There were a couple fans running in the gym, but I don’t believe that there was any air conditioning. Window shades were down to prevent the sunlight from getting in.

2:00 PM–Temperature in Woodbridge, NJ up to 93 degrees with a heat index of 105. Had a workout in South Amboy’s Waterfront Park, and the humidity finally got to me, but I was able to get a good walk and run in.

5:05 PM–Checked the conditions here at GWC in South Plainfield, NJ. Temperature reached the highest it has been all year at 96 degrees. Dew point reached a record way 82 degrees, and the heat index was 125, another record.

7:47 PM–Checked the conditions at the GWC WX Station. The sun might be going down, but conditions are still oppressive outside. Temperature is down to 90 degrees with a dew point of 79 for a heat index of 107. Barometer is steady at 29.82 inches of Hg.


August 14, 2016

7:15 AM–Getting ready to go outside for a morning walk. Temperature is up to 75 degrees. Dew point is at 74 percent. Heat index is at 78.

9:45 AM–Just came in from my walk outside. I figured to get it in before the real intense heat and humidity of the day kicked in. Walked for over 2 hours and did 16,500 steps. Very sweaty. Even for a morning, it was sweltering. Cirrocumulus clouds starting to form.

1:14 PM–Just stepped outside. Have some cumulus clouds off to the northwest of GWC. Feels like a blast furnace. Inside it is comfortable since I activated the ceiling fan in my room. Feels much better. Temperature is 90 degrees. Dew point is 77. Heat index is 104.

7:13 PM–Driving home on Interstate 295 North, I can see a cumulonimbus cloud for a nearby storm.

8:25 PM–Now in South Plainfield, NJ, can see some flashes of lightning and cloud to cloud Lightning. Some rain fell.

10:39 PM–Checked today’s highs at GWC in South Plainfield, NJ. Temperature topped out at 95 degrees. Dew point peaked at 79. Heat index climbed to only 113. Total precipitation from the thunderstorm that came through was only 0.09 inches.


August 15, 2016

7:44 AM–Just stepped outside for a second. Lots of dew on the ground. Porch window fogged up a little. Temperature is at 74 degrees with a dew point of 74 for a heat index of 78. Barometer is rising at 30.11 inches of Hg. Had 0.01 inches of rain overnight. Rainfall for the month so far is just 0.65 inches. Rainfall for the year is at 21.95 inches.

9:32 AM–Just came in from going for a morning walk outside. Also did a mile run. Still very humid. Checked the conditions at the GWC WX Station. Temperature is at 80 degrees. Humidity is at 78 percent for a dew point of 73. Heat index is up to 85 degrees. Barometer is still rising at 30.12 inches of Hg.

12:05 PM–Did some work in the house. Checked conditions outside. Skies are sunny with some puffy cumulus clouds over head. Temperature at GWC is 86 degrees with humidity at 61 percent for a dew point of 71. Heat index is up to 92 degrees. Barometer is steady at 30.13 inches of Hg.

1:53 PM–Just returned from the store. Sun is very strong this afternoon. Temperature at GWC is now 89 degrees with a humidity of 57 percent for a dew point of 72. Heat index is up to 96 degrees. Barometer is steady at 30.12 inches. Showers and storms currently well to the west in Western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh.

2:57 PM–For the fifth straight day, the temperature has reached at least 90 degrees at GWC in South Plainfield, NJ. Right now at the GWC WX Station, the temperature is at 91 degrees with the humidity at 51 percent for a dew point of 70. Heat index is up to 98 and the barometer remains steady at 30.12 inches of Hg. Skies remain sunny with puffy cumulus clouds about. Conditions are better than they were this weekend, but still fairly hot and humid.

8:32 PM–Checked the high temperature for today at GWC, and it was 91 degrees. Dew point peaked at 76. Heat index topped out at 100. Currently, the temperature is down to 80 degrees. Dew point is down to 73 degrees. Heat index is 85. Barometer remains steady at 30.12 inches of Hg.


August 16, 2016

7:07 PM–Woke up a little while ago. Took a peek outside. Sun has come up. Fog on the porch door windows. Temperature is 74 degrees. Humidity at 96 percent. Dew point at 73. Heat index is 78 degrees. Barometer is 30.14 inches of Hg and steady.

9:33 PM–Just came home after working out this morning. Did over 12,000 steps between a 4 mile walk and a 2.3 mile run. Very humid. Skies are sunny with plenty of cirrus and cirrocumulus clouds developing. Temperature is now up to 82 degrees with 77 percent humidity. Dew point is at 75. Heat index is up to 89. Barometer steady at 30.15 inches of Hg.

1:12 PM–Been taking occasional looks outside. Skies were overcast for a brief time this morning, but the sun eventually battled through it. Still have some cumulus clouds about. Temperature at GWC is now up to 86 degrees with the humidity at 71 percent for a dew point of 75 and a index that has gone back and forth a bit between 95 and 96 degrees. Barometer is falling at 30.10 inches of Hg.

3:21 PM–Just stepped outside. Getting close to cumulus congestus clouds. Warm and humid. Radar showing a really good line of storms in East Central Pennsylvania from north of Williamsport southward to near Gettysburg. Temperature right now is 89 degrees from a high of 91. Dew point is currently at the high for the day at 78. Heat index is down to 102 from a high of 106. Barometer is falling sharply at 30.03 inches of Hg.

5:38 PM–Checked radar earlier, and found that the line of storms are now in Eastern Pennsylvania from the Scranton-Wilkes Barre area to Reading. Temperature had risen to 90 degrees earlier, but is back down to 89. Dew point down to 77 degrees, but the heat index remains at 102. Barometer continues to fall sharply at 30.00 inches of Hg.

8:34 PM–Line of storms broke up, especially on the southern portion of the front as it approached New Jersey. Heard some rumbles of thunder. Skies grew dark especially around 7:30 PM, but there was no rain or severe weather at GWC. Temperature is down to 86 degrees. Humidity is at 77 percent for a dew point of 78 degrees. Heat index is down to 97 degrees. Barometer is still falling at 29.97 inches of Hg.


August 17, 2016

12:33 AM–Woke up to the sound of thunder. Checked radar. Strong line of storms coming through. National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly had issued a Special Weather Statement regarding the storms. Passed that along to my followers. Thunder is very loud. Some flashes of lightning.

5:20 AM–Getting ready to go to Washington Rock to catch a sunrise. Checked the temperature and heat index. Temperature was 74, but the heat index was 78. Still a lot of humidity outside.

7:45 AM–Returned from trips to Washington Rock and Spring Lake Park. Went for a walk in Spring Lake Park. Had quite a bit of fog at Washington Rock. Still quite humid. There is a little more of a breeze though. Feels more comfortable. Saw a large tree limb down over on Walnut Street in Piscataway. Also saw a similar tree limb down in South Plainfield.

9:15 AM–Returned from taking another trip to Spring Lake Park. Went back there to play some basketball, which I haven’t done in a while. Felt good, but it was very humid. Worked up a good sweat.

11:45 AM–Just finished a job interview here in the house. Temperature is up to 81 degrees with the heat index of 83. Dew point is at 68. So, things are a bit more comfortable. Could the heatwave be broken today?

12:33 PM–Did another check of the GWC WX Station here at the house. Looking much more comfortable today than it has been for the last week or so. Temperature is at 82 degrees with the humidity at 61 percent for a dew point of 67. Heat index is only at 84. Have a bit of a breeze going with winds between 10 and 15 miles per hour. Barometer is at 30.01 inches of Hg and steady. Had 0.53 inches of rain from the storms overnight.

6:39 PM–Returned from a busy afternoon with appointments and interviews. Very nice late summer afternoon. Nice breeze. Much more pleasant than it has been. Actually, the heatwave officially ended as the high at GWC was only 85 degrees. Dew point peaked earlier this morning at 77 degrees. Heat index topped out at 92. Rainfall rate from storms this morning was 8.35 inches per hour. Currently, the temperature is 83 degrees with the humidity at 62 degrees for a dew point of 68. Heat index is down to 87 degrees. Barometer is steady at 29.97 inches of Hg.