Unsettled Weekend Expected (July 29-31)

While not a total washout, most of the weekend looks unsettled. Let’s break it down…

Disco: A frontal boundary is currently draped across the Ohio Valley, southern Pennsylvania and through central/southern New Jersey. This frontal boundary will act as a steering mechanism for two low pressure systems moving across the eastern US from west to east. The first system will impact the area tonight into tomorrow. The second will impact the area on Sunday. With that said, Saturday looks like the better day of the weekend despite still being unsettled from the proximity of that frontal boundary. There will be a decent amount of lifting along the boundary which could easily develop showers and thunderstorms between the low pressure systems.

Friday (July 29) high temperatures should reach the upper-70s/lower-80s statewide. Skies should be mostly cloudy with rain and storms likely through at least morning hours. Skies should dry out from SW to NE through afternoon/early evening hours. With any luck, it will start to improve by late Friday morning. Winds will be light-to-breezy and change in direction (counter-clockwise) around the low pressure system passing by. Overnight lows should range from the upper-50s for NNJ elevations to lower-70s along the SENJ coast. Everyone between on a sliding scale.

Saturday (July 30) high temperatures should reach the low-to-mid 80s statewide. Skies should be partly sunny with isolated-to-scattered showers and thunderstorms possible. Not a washout but likely pockets of nuisance weather. Winds should be light out of the SE. Overnight lows should fall into the 60s for NNJ elevations and 70s for the rest of New Jersey.

Sunday (July 31) high temperatures should reach the the low 80s statewide. Skies should be partly-to-mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms possible.  Winds should remain light out of the SE. Overnight lows should fall into the 60s for most with SNJ and coastal areas possibly holding onto the lower-70s.

Marine Forecast: Onshore and offshore waters should get a bit rough with the two low pressure systems moving along the unsettled stationary frontal boundary. Due to the lows passing more over NJ than to the SE of NJ, the onshore flow component could be minimized and wave direction should rock between E/SE and S/SE. Ocean surface temperatures are in the low-t0-mid 70s along the entire NJ coast (Sandy Hook to Cape May). Delaware Bay waters should be slightly warmer. It’s a rough weekend if you want to swim and boat, IMO. If you absolutely have to go out, play the radar the best you can but I don’t recommend it, especially Friday morning and Sunday.

Stargazing Forecast: The moon is approaching its new phase so lunar light pollution will be at a minimum. Clouds could be a problem however with the close proximity of the frontal boundary and passing low pressure systems. With any luck, Friday night could be clear with an early Saturday morning rising morning crescent phase of the moon. I imagine Friday night is the better stargazing night of the weekend. Saturday and Sunday night could feature too many clouds.

Tropical Forecast: Two tropical disturbances are currently being tracked by the NWS National Hurricane Center off the W coast of Africa (S/SE of the general Cape Verde region). They are in their infancy stage and will have to fight a dry environment in order to continue crossing the Atlantic Ocean towards the Lesser Antilles. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this in the next week or so.

An early look at next week indicates another remnant unsettled day on Monday followed by much-improved conditions Tuesday-forward. We’re finished with the heat wave for now. Everyone have a great weekend and please be safe! JC