March had a resounding start, with strong winds rising on Monday night and temperatures dropping to 20 degrees on Tuesday morning. If you consider the thermal sensation, it looks as cold as a digit in some parts of New Jersey.
Good news: power cuts were not as widespread as expected, with only about 700 homes and businesses in the dark in Garden State as of 9am on Tuesday, according to data from state power utilities.
In addition, this Arctic explosion will be short-lived, with meteorologists calling for temperatures to rise to 50 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, under generally sunny skies. The rest of the week will be up and down, with mercury trapped in the 40s on Thursday, dropping to 30 on Friday and returning to 40 at the weekend.
If the long-term forecast holds, the National Meteorological Service is promising dry weather for the next seven days, with temperatures possibly reaching 60 degrees in the spring in the middle of next week.
For now, temperatures will remain around 30 degrees throughout the day on Tuesday, and are expected to drop to over 20 degrees overnight.
A wind alert remains active in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties until 4 pm Tuesday, with steady winds of 15 to 25 mph occasionally with gusts of up to 45 to 50 mph.
A wind alert for Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean and Sussex counties expired at around 9:30 am, with strong winds easing. Meteorologists say it will still remain windy, with occasional gusts of up to 30 mph, so the chills will make it look even colder than it already is.
Strong gusts of wind
How strong are these howling winds? These are among the highest bursts reported in New Jersey on Monday and Tuesday:
- 64 mph at High Point Monument, Sussex County
- 63 mph in Vernon Township, Sussex County
- 50 mph at Newark Liberty International Airport, Essex County
- 49 mph in Sea Girt, County Monmouth
- 48 mph in Pennsauken, County Camden
- 47 mph at Atlantic City International Airport, Atlantic County
- 47 mph in Harvey Cedars, Ocean County
- 47 mph in Hillsborough, Somerset County
- 46 mph in Point Pleasant, Ocean County
- 45 mph at Trenton Mercer Airport, Mercer County
Current weather radar
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Len Melisurgo can be found at [email protected].