After a four- to five-day streak with cloud cover in the region, the weather will come full circle with a sunny streak of its own.
Temperatures on Thursday morning will be in the mid- to upper 30s, spot on seasonable for this time of the year. A strong north to northwest wind will blow, around a massive low-pressure system now swirling to our northeast. That low pressure is the result of last weekend’s storm and the coastal storm that passed us to the south Wednesday.
Sustained winds of 15-20 mph with gusts to 30 mph will be present throughout the day. That may knock over a potted plant or an empty garbage can. Otherwise, we will anticipate a fully mostly sunny sky, something not seen since last Friday. High temperatures in the 55- to 60-degree range will make it comfortable for a run around the neighborhood or outdoor work.
Given the gusty winds, dry conditions and sunshine, I’m a little concerned about wildfire spread during the day. Please use caution if you are burning at home.
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Thursday evening will see temperatures fall into the 50s during the evening. After midnight, we’ll slide through the 40s and dip into the 30s on the mainland under a mostly clear sky.
That massive low-pressure system will make a turn to the south. It will still keep rain away from us, but there will be some influence over us. Winds will turn toward the north and northeast. Highs will remain 55-60 Friday, but make a 5-degree drop Saturday. We’ll have more clouds around both of these days, but it won’t be a gloomy day.
The biggest impact will be the coastal flooding. The Friday p.m. and Saturday a.m. high tides will be in minor flood stage, with the higher tides Saturday morning. Saturday evening will look to have spotty minor flood stage, mainly in Ocean City, with the waters clearing for the Sunday a.m. high tide.
Move your cars in the susceptible spots, and be wary of driving through floodwaters.
{child_flags:top_story}Heads in the clouds
Lastly, with March fully behind us now, we can take a look back at the month that was, both Atlantic City International Airport and Sen. Frank S. Farley Marina in Atlantic City were in the top five for warmest on record.
The Farley marina was 4.7 degrees above average, ranking it fifth warmest. For context, the last time we had a year in the top five coldest was in 1960. What might be most notable was that the marina broke the all-time record for consecutive number of days flip-flopping between rain and no rain at 14 days. With a 147-year period of record, that’s quite the accomplishment. I already have it down for my Top 10 weather events of 2020.
At A.C. International, we were 6.6 degrees above average, ranking it the third warmest. The last time we were in the top five coldest was 1996.
Rainfall amounts were slightly on the drier side in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties. Ocean County was average.
