Warm, Dry Winter Ends

While spring officially arrived at 1:14 a.m. Tuesday morning, it seemed winter never unpacked her bags, only making occasional brief appearances.
According to State Climatologist David A. Robinson, the February statewide average temperature of 38.5° was 4.7° above the 1981-2010 normal. It was the fifth mildest February since records began in 1895.
Robinson said mild conditions prevailed throughout the bulk of the winter. Monthly anomalies of 5.2°, 4.1°, and 4.7° from December through February made for a seasonal mean temperature of 38.2°, which is 4.7° above average. This ranks as the 4th mildest winter on record in New Jersey.
On nineteen winter days, the high temperature was 60° or higher at one or more locations in the state.
Winter precipitation totaled 8.57 inches, which is 1.68 inches below average and ranks as the 30th driest on record. Given the heavy rains of 2011, NJ’s hydrological situation is good. This includes ground water, rivers, and reservoirs, said Robinson.
Snowfall was meager throughout the winter months. The 20-inch long-term average for the three months far exceeds the 4.9-inch winter total resulting from no snow in December, 2.8 inches in January, and 2.1 inches in February.
Statewide, snowfall has averaged 7.7 inches since the first flakes flew on October 29, 2011. The northern third of the state has totaled 12 inches, the central region 9.4 inches and the south 4.6 inches, according to Robinson. Were not a flake to accumulate the rest of the season, this would be the 6th least snowy winter since records began in the winter of 1895-1896.
The National Weather Service’s long-rang forecast through Monday calls for an almost summer-like high-pressure system off the coast, which will continue to dominate the weather through Friday. This high has been responsible for two things. First, with the high over the relatively cool waters will continue the threat of late night and early morning fog. Then when the fog dissipates after daybreak we will see the second thing, unseasonably warm temperatures.
Afternoon high temperatures will continue to be 20 to 25 degrees above normal through Friday under a decent amount of sunshine. Highs should easily make the low to mid 70s Wednesday and the mid to upper 70s Thursday and Friday over most of the region and its possible to see a few thermometers hit 80 degrees either Thursday or Friday.