Unsettled Conditions Lead To Rare Sunshower In Northwestern Middlesex County

After a prolonged period of gloomy and unsettled weather in New Jersey, a change began on Thursday. However, the transition still brought instability, which resulted in a rare treat in Northwestern Middlesex County.

For much of the day, conditions were quite breezy as the winds picked up in response to a drop in pressure, and a developing pressure gradient. The barometer had dropped to 29.49 inches of Hg (Mercury) by Thursday morning. The dip in pressure caused winds to pick up. At the GWC weather station in South Plainfield, winds gusted to 10 miles per hour with a sustained 10 minute average of 3 miles per hour.

To the east in Carteret, the winds were more substantial. The bayway city reported sustained winds of 17 miles per hour with gusts in upwards of 20 miles per hour. The pressure would eventually rise to 29.80 by 11:00 PM in the evening, and the winds waned. However, the change ushered in brought about some clouds and even some rain. A sunshower developed over Northwestern Middlesex County between 1:00 and 2:00 PM on Thursday. It brought 0.13 inches of rain to South Plainfield.

Starting out as a few sprinkles, the sunshower built up to quite a steady rain. The shower lasted about 10 to 15 minutes. The latest rain raised the monthly rainfall total to date to 1.27 inches. Yearly to date rainfall climbed to 6.55 inches. Following a dry spell in March and much of April, there has been 2.65 inches of rain in just the past several weeks.

When the rain subsided, the skies eventually cleared and the winds slackened off. Cooler and drier air moved in, and radiational cooling developed overnight as the temperature dropped to 43 degrees here in town.