Wednesday NJ Weather: More Rain With a Bit of Icy Mix NW

The Bottom Line

In case you missed it, Tuesday was a pretty crazy weather day.

A powerful thunderstorm cell charged across Mercer and Monmouth Counties, spawning a possible tornado while dumping heavy rain and hail all over the place.

Wednesday will be a calmer weather day. No thunderstorms. But there is a concern for some icing to the north as our next storm system comes in.

Wednesday will be a chilly day. Thursday warms up to ridiculous levels. And then Friday turns blustery and windy and colder again.

The transition from February to March is looking pretty lion-ish, I'd say.

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Wednesday

Following bright and colorful sunshine, clouds will fill in pretty quickly Wednesday morning. We are definitely back on the cold side. That means bundling up a bit, and reaching for a heavier jacket. You may also need to scrape your windshield if raindrops from Tuesday froze overnight. (I did.)

A powerful storm system will dump a foot of snow from the Great Lakes to northern New England. New Jersey will be on the southern edge of that system, so impacts will be much less significant.

First raindrops will creep into southwestern New Jersey midday Wednesday, around 11 AM or noon. And pockets of rain will progress north and east as the afternoon goes along.

For most of New Jersey, this will be another dose of plain rain. However, in northwestern NJ, there is a legit shot at some icy mix — that is snow, sleet, and freezing mark. I'll define that geography as the area north of I-78 and west of I-287. (The usual "cold corner" of the state.) Even that may be generous — wintry impacts will really be limited to the northern edge of NJ.

I don't think massive accumulations will be an issue. But there could definitely be some slippery spots on untreated surfaces. No advisories have been issued for New Jersey.

Rain and wintry mix will dial back from late afternoon through early evening. Although I think one more batch of rain showers will slide through late Wednesday night (probably after Midnight). Fog may develop overnight too, as warmer air forces temperatures to rise.

Thursday

Another weird weather day, as most of the state gets another taste of springtime temperatures.

I have little doubt that the southwestern corner of New Jersey will be in the 70s on Thursday. Most of the state will be warm and pleasant, in the 60s. The exceptions, however, will be northern and coastal New Jersey, likely stuck in the 50s (at best). Having said that, everyone will end up warmer than seasonal normals yet again.

And it looks like a pleasant day too, featuring partly sunny skies and dry weather. Winds will come close to the "breezy" category.

Friday

Another cold front day. While the frontal passage will be dry this time around, the burst of wind and "whoosh" of cold air will be very noticeable.

The cooldown will begin in the morning. Thermometers will descend from about 50 degrees early on, into the 30s (on average) by late afternoon.

Wind gusts may top 40 mph — that is strong enough to relocate your garbage can. Sunshine will do little against the newfound chill in the air.

Friday night, temperatures will sink to around 20 degrees across the Garden State. Although the wind will calm down quite a bit, the wind chill could end up in the teens. A winter "bundle up" kind of night.

Saturday

Welcome to the last weekend of February. It will start cold and end mild — typical of many other weekends so far this winter season.

With abundant cloud cover and high temperatures only in the 30s, Saturday does not look like a very nice day. A snow shower or flurry is possible at some point during the day, especially as a storm system slides just south of Cape May.

Sunday & Beyond

Warmer air returns Sunday, pushing high temps close to 50 degrees. The sun should come out and the day should stay dry, making for a pleasant end to the weekend.

The next storm system worth watching comes in the Monday-Tuesday time frame. I do see some potential there for some snow and/or wintry mix in northern New Jersey. But those medium-range forecasts have been such garbage lately that I wouldn't touch a more definitive forecast on that one until later this week.