Starting on Friday afternoon, the weather turned for the worst here in the Garden State. Although it has been a theme all summer with heavy rains and cooler than normal temperatures, this one stung a bit more. For the past week, temperatures in the area had finally gotten to the point where people could think it was actually summer around here. The August heat wave produced temperatures in the 90s for pretty much the first time this whole season. Many were looking forward to salvaging their summer with a nice beach weekend.

However, it was not to be. The combination of a cold front advancing in from the west, and Hurricane Bill approaching from the south and east, put a damper on things. While the front kept Bill out to sea, it didn’t prevent the dangerous surf conditions all along the East Coast. Fifty water rescues alone were made in North Carolina while many other coastal locations were ghost towns. Another thing that Bill did was to pump up an abundance of warm, moist air for the cold front to knife into as well as slow it down. Consequently, torrential rains fell across the Garden State from Friday afternoon into Saturday morning, and a little more fell on Saturday night.

It doesn’t end there either. The high waves, dangerous surf, and rip currents is expected to continue today even as Bill pulls away from Cape Cod, where it passed well to the southeast of this morning. The vast system, which still spread its outer bands over the Massachusetts coastline, is now heading toward Nova Scotia and Newfoundland as a Category One Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Beach erosion is also expected along the New Jersey and Delaware coasts.

Meanwhile, there is still a chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms around New Jersey today. A Flood Warning is in effect for Somerset County while some isolated thunderstorms could produce strong gusty winds this afternoon as the heat of the day builds and combines with the abundant moisture currently in the atmosphere. The outlook for the rest of the week calls for a slight chance of thunderstorms on Monday followed by nice weather finally on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday looks like another stormy day.