From Tuesday Chill To Wednesday Warm-Up

Storm System Ushers In Warmer Air For Wednesday Afternoon

After a dose of reality came on Tuesday with temperatures in Central Jersey getting into the upper 20s to low 30s for lows, the mercury is rebounding on Wednesday as temperatures are expected to climb into the upper 60s to low 70s during the afternoon.

According to the latest forecast from the Weather Channel’s Weatherscan on FIOS, the high temperature forecasted for Somerville is expected to reach 72 degrees by mid-afternoon.  The reason for the sudden warm-up is the approach of a low pressure system from our west.  This system is a typical mid-latitude cyclone with a warm front and cold front associated with it.

The warm front is currently moving through, and once we are in the warm sector, the temperatures will shoot up.  However, a cold front will slam into the warm air, and produce showers and thunderstorms in New Jersey as well as Eastern Pennsylvania.  According to the short term forecast from the National Weather Service office in Mount Holly, the thunderstorms could bring brief downpours with lightning.

Rainfall amounts are expected to reach a quarter of an inch.  Following the showers and storms, temperatures will cool down a bit to more seasonable levels on Thursday and Friday.  The recent weather has been a bit of a roller coaster ride, but that is to be expected for March since it is a transitional month.  It has been one of the driest March months on record.  As of the time of this report, there has only been 0.45 inches of rain this month.

Looking back on Tuesday’s weather, temperatures did not get as cold as originally thought.  On Monday, the NWS projected only a high of 26 degrees for Northwestern Middlesex County.  However, the low temperature was 30.5 degrees in South Plainfield on Tuesday morning.  The winds hung around long enough to mix the air and prevent radiational cooling from occurring, which kept temperatures a bit warmer at night.