Rain Comes With Cooler Temperatures On Monday To End Heat And Humidity Onslaught

On Monday, the heat finally relented.  After nine days of 90 degree plus weather that peaked on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday with temperatures soaring to 100 degrees or more, the heatwave was finally broken.

Temperatures and humidity levels were already on the decrease on Sunday in New Jersey as well as much of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.  However, on Monday, things cooled down into the 80s as clouds accompanied by some rain developed by the mid-afternoon.

No severe weather has been reported.  Just showers with a steady rain.  The heat wave started innocently on July 16 when the mercury climbed just above 90 degrees in Northwestern Middlesex County.  The heat gradually built up during the course of the next week as a dome of high pressure pushed eastward.

Finally, the hot weather spell peaked on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Temperatures on Thursday reached 99 degrees with a heat index of 116 in South Plainfield.  The mercury climbed to 104 in Newark with a heat index of 115 degrees.  Things got worse for Friday with the mercury climbing to 104 degrees in South Plainfield with a heat index of 121 degrees.

Newark was the hottest place in the entire United States on Friday with a high of 108 degrees.  New York City reached 104.  Edison, New Jersey reached 106 while North Brunswick climbed to 105.  The highest heat index in the Garden State was in Atlantic City, where it felt like 122 degrees.  Saturday, things cooled down some, but the temperature was still 99 degrees with a heat index of 110 in South Plainfield.

The heat affected some 32 different states with advisories or warnings last week.  Some 141 million people were impacted by the onslaught of tremendous heat and humidity.  Over two dozen people had succumbed to the torrid weather.  It was one of the worst heat waves in the United States in the past 15 to 20 years.  One of the most deadly was the one in 1995 that left some 700 people dead in the Chicago area alone.

Back then, heat index values were up to 125 in places such as Philadelphia.  So far this summer has been one of the hottest on record.  Here in South Plainfield, the average temperature has climbed to near 79 degrees for the month.  Since the new Vantage Pro 2 weather station had been installed in Mid-June, the average temperature has been between 77 and 79 degrees.

Don’t get too comfortable with the cooler temperatures.  Forecasts are indicating that the cool down will only be a brief reprieve from the heat.  After temperatures top out in the 80s on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, the mercury is expected to inch back up into the upper 80s to low 90s on Thursday, and then stay in the 90s for the weekend into early next week.  However, we must caution you on the forecast since there are many different media outlets giving different forecasts.