'Second summer' makes a showing with record-tying heat in New Jersey

New Jersey's "second summer" showed some teeth on Monday as temperatures climbed to the mid-80s. In fact, numerous reporting stations around the tri-state area reported record warmth this afternoon. Newark peaked at 84, tying the record set back in 1947. Temperatures feel like the third week of June instead of the third week of October. It’s hard to hate on the weather when it’s this beautiful. The warmup will continue through Tuesday, staying in the low 80s. The one mitigating factor from allowing the temps to warm even more than today would be a slight shift in the wind direction. Sout-south easterly. That little easterly component should stifle a significant warmup.

Dry weather continues. Today marked the 22nd consecutive day with nothing collecting in our rain gauges. The all-time record stretch is 26 days. According to mid-range guidance models we might not see any rainfall through the first week of November. If we don’t see any rain this month, it will be the driest October and the driest of any month for that matter since we started keeping records. Fall colors have been muted because of the drought and leaves have already begun to fall because of how dry it has been.

MORE: News 12 New Jersey Weather Center

Cooler weather will eventually show up this week. A weak frontal boundary will slide through Wednesday night into Thursday. A front is a front and there is a small, I mean a really small chance of showers with it. Think like 5%. Behind the system is more seasonable air. Temperatures in the 60s and another reinforced round of dry air. Thursday evening and maybe Saturday night might be our best chances at seeing some liquid gold but it looks like those chances are drying up very quickly.