After some very warm weather on Friday with the high temperature climbing to 87 degrees, we had some changes start to occur on Saturday into Sunday. Temperatures were still warm on Saturday, but not as much as on Friday. On Sunday, the mercury only climbed into the low 70s. The high in South Plainfield was just under 71 degrees this afternoon while the low was 61.5. The mean temperature was still a bit over 65 so we actually recorded a cooling degree day. Skies were mostly cloudy, especially toward the end of the day.

The clouds are a harbinger of things to come. If you noticed the satellite imagery that is displayed on the home page at Greg’s Weather Center, there is a vast weather system moving into the eastern third of the country. We have a warm front that is just to the south of us, and it is bringing heavy rains to portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Rain will begin to move into the Central Jersey area during the overnight hours, and get worse on Monday.

Looking at the latest forecast from the National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, New Jersey, there is a 70 percent chance of rain by Monday morning, and a 100 percent chance of rain during the day on Monday into Monday night. The rain is expected to linger into Tuesday with an 80 percent chance during the day, and a 40 percent chance at night. Over the next 36 to 48 hours, Northwestern Middlesex County is expected to get anywhere between 1.5 inches to 3.0 inches of rain. A Hazardous Weather Outlook has also been issued for the region by the NWS.

There is a chance of some urban and drainage flooding over the next couple of days along with the possibility of the stronger winds aloft mixing down to the lower levels in strong to severe thunderstorms. This could lead to yet another severe weather outbreak here especially if the sun does peek out for a bit to heat up the atmosphere. This weather will be leading a change as the jet stream will be making its first big dip of the season with temperatures getting down into the mid 70s later in the week, and falling further into the 50s in some spots of the Northeast by this weekend. Well, at least that is what the models are indicating right now.