Run At Heatwave Expected To Fall Short On Sunday

For the second day in a row, the mercury climbed to 90 degrees here in South Plainfield. Considering the fact that temperatures had been struggling to get out of the 70s earlier this week, summer is making one last stand. Conditions were a bit more humid on Saturday with the dew point hovering in the mid to upper 60s during the mid-afternoon. The heat index inched up to 94, which was slightly higher than the 93 posted on Friday.

Shortly before 3:00 PM, the temperature dipped below 90, and the dew point and heat index also tumbled as some cumulus clouds developed from the heating of the day, and some got in the way of the sun to prevent it from continuing to beat down on Northwestern Middlesex County. Summer had been waning a bit in August. Temperatures were not as hot as they were toward the end of June and in July. The lower sun angle and the amount of clouds and precipitation that developed during the month helped keep the mercury down. The highest temperature in the past 28 days was only 92 degrees as supposed to the 102.3 recorded during one of several heat waves in July.

Despite the searing heat this summer, there have not been as many 90 degree days as there was two years ago. To date, there have been 30 days where the temperature has soared to 90 degrees, or more. This time two years ago, there were 31 such days. There is still another 20 days or so left in the season, so we could still see another 90 degree day. It won’t happen on Sunday though. The bid for a sixth heat wave this summer will fall short as clouds with showers and storms from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac will keep temperatures only in the upper 70s on Sunday.

The longest of the five heat waves this summer was six days from July 3rd to July 8th with the hottest day coming on the seventh as the mercury soared to 98. The average temperature during that stretch was 82 degrees. There was a lot of humidity to deal with as well. The average dew point this summer to date has been 64.6 degrees. The maximum occurred on August 5th when it reached an absurd 78.9 degrees. The combination of heat and humidity made it very uncomfortable. Heat index values peaked at 118 on July 18th when the temperature soared over 100 degrees.

The average heat index was 76 this summer while the average maximum was 101.