NJ weather: First day of winter brings chilly, quiet weather

The Bottom Line

Happy Winter Solstice, one and all! Winter officially begins at 10:27 p.m. Thursday. That means this is the "shortest day" of the year, with just over 9 hours of daylight. But the Winter Solstice is a time for celebration — days only get brighter and longer from here!

Our weather stays relatively quiet, which is good news approaching a big holiday. Two chilly days will be followed by a little warmup.

There are two chances of precipitation in the forecast: Some spotty showers during the weekend overnight, then a more substantial period of rain comes in the middle of next week.

Looking for snow? You'll have to wait until the New Year.

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Thursday

Morning lows near 30. Afternoon highs 40 to 45 degrees. That puts us in the neighborhood of five degrees cooler than Wednesday. Skies will be mostly sunny, and we stay completely dry.

You will feel an occasional breeze, blowing straight out of the north up to 15 mph. Noticeable, but not overpowering.

Thursday night looks quite cold, as thermometers dig deep into the 20s. Other than a few clouds overhead, it will be an uneventful overnight too.

Friday

The first full day of winter will be the coldest day of the week. Highs will only reach about 40 degrees Friday afternoon. It will be partly sunny and dry.

Saturday

Cloud cover will increase significantly heading into the weekend. But temperatures will creep upward too — Saturday's highs should reach the mid 40s.

A weak disturbance will ride into New Jersey's atmosphere starting late-day Saturday. Some models paint spotty showers around late afternoon. Most likely timing for raindrops will be late evening. It is all liquid and all light stuff.

Sunday (Christmas Eve)

Those hit-or-miss overnight showers could linger through about mid-morning Sunday. And then the rest of the holiday will be completely dry for NJ.

Sunday will be mostly cloudy, with highs in the upper 40s. That is above normal for this time of year.

Monday (Christmas Day)

Christmas this year will be mild and dry. With a mix of clouds and sun, highs will push toward about 50 degrees Monday afternoon. A reasonably pleasant weather day, with no travel concerns at all.

The Extended Forecast

Our next storm system is modeled to arrive in the Tuesday-Wednesday time frame. (With some forecast solutions keeping raindrops nearby through Thursday too.) It looks like another rainmaker, on the order of an inch. Temperatures will be mainly in the 50s for the duration. Having said that, I would not rule out limited winter weather in far northern New Jersey. But accumulations should be minimal.

I don't want to get too deep in the weeds over timing and impacts yet. We'll lay out the wet vs. dry weather as it gets closer.

Temperatures probably turn chilly again as we approach the New Year's holiday.

Dan Zarrow is Chief Meteorologist for Townsquare Media New Jersey. Follow him on Facebook for the latest forecast and realtime weather updates.