Recall late last week when I talked about how Spring might have sprung too early?  There is even video evidence that I posted here in the blog of all the flowers and trees that were in bloom.  Well, changes have been taking place over the past several days, and the biggest ones have begun to occur over the last 6 hours or so.

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey has issued a Red Flag Warning for this afternoon and a Freeze Warning for tonight and tomorrow morning.  With conditions already being fairly dry as of late, and winds between 20 and 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 40 miles per hour, we have a perfect scenario for brush fires to flourish in.  The lack of moisture and gusty winds enhances the fire threat, and makes it easier for brush fires to spread and get out of control.

The winds have increased in the wake of a low pressure system that brough a bit of rain to the Garden State over the weekend.  With high pressure moving in, there is a difference in pressure, and the air is rushing toward lower pressure to balance things out.  The winds should subside by tonight, but there still exists the problem with the temperatures.  As things calm down, clouds continue to clear out, and winds decrease, there will be more ideal conditions for radiational cooling, and the mercury could drop below freezing into the mid to upper 20s.

Consequently, the flowers and trees that bloomed in response to the above average and near record temperatures on Thursday and Friday, will be hit hard by the freeze.  If you have any plants or flowers that have bloomed early over the past week, you should take precautions to protect them from this coming freeze.  The forecast for South Plainfield is calling for a low overnight of 25 degrees before a high on Tuesday of about 52 degrees.  The low on Wednesday will be in the mid 30s so we could still have some frost.