New Jersey’s only weather story this week: A pair of cooldowns

The Bottom Line

We continue digging through "the dead of winter," on average the coldest period of the calendar year.  And we continue a trend of nearly silent weather.  Temperatures will take a ride this week, with two cooldowns in the forecast for midweek and next weekend.  But the chance of rain and snow looks minimal - there are no significant storm systems on the horizon for the next week, at least.

Monday

A few sprinkles hit my windshield on my ride to work early Monday morning.  Persistent showers are passing through New York and Pennsylvania - and that's generally where they'll stay Monday.  A snow or rain shower will be possible in North Jersey later in the afternoon to early evening hours.

Otherwise, skies will be mostly to partly sunny across the state.

Morning temperatures are primarily in the 30s.  Mainly above-freezing, and a full 10 to 15 degrees above seasonal normals.  Highs will reach the mid 40s Monday afternoon, on the order of 5 degrees above average.  Pretty similar to Sunday.  Winds will be considerably light too - definitely a good thing.

Monday night looks calm.  Clear skies will lead to cold temperatures, around 30 degrees.

Tuesday

A pleasant January day (relatively speaking, of course).  Sunny skies, dry weather, and lower-mid 40s.

Wednesday

As a weak cold front arrives in the early morning hours, it will open the door to some colder air.  (The first such cooldown, as referenced in the headline of this post.)
It's not what I'd call an arctic blast, where temperatures plummet 30+ degrees in a few hours.  But our new air mass will be noticeably colder.  And the wind will kick up too, potentially gusting to 30 mph for a bit.

High temperatures on Wednesday will only reach the upper 30s.  A few sprinkles or flurries are possible on Wednesday, but don't expect much.

Low temps Wednesday night may approach the teens in the state's coldest corners.

Thursday & Beyond

On Thursday, as the sun comes out (eventually), thermometers will bounce back nicely into the 40s.  Friday looks good too, with mostly sunny skies and mid 40s.

Our next intrusion of cold air looks to arrive late Friday into early Saturday.  It looks like a blustery (cold and windy) weekend, with highs only in the 30s.

The GFS model is picking up on a storm system around Monday of next week.  Snow and/or wintry mix will be a possibility, especially at the onset.  But I'm not keeping my hopes up with 7-8 days to go.  We'll see how things continue to develop.

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