News

Following the past two October 29ths, it was wonderful to see sunny skies and seasonable maximum temperatures ranging from the mid to upper 40°s in the northwest to the low to mid 60°s in south this 29th. As a matter of fact, aside from a strong frontal passage blowing through the north on the 7th and a stubborn coastal storm impacting the south from the 9th-12th, conditions were quite tranquil throughout most of October 2013. A summer-like first week was the major contributor to the statewide monthly average temperature of 57.1° coming in 2.3° above normal. This ties with 1950 and 1951 as the 20th mildest October since statewide records commenced in 1895.

September 2013 was the second consecutive month with the statewide average temperature coming in below normal. The 64.4° average was 1.8° below the 1981-2010 average. This ranks as the 40th coolest September since 1895, tied with 1920 and 1922, and the coolest since 1994.

Statewide precipitation averaged 2.40" in September. This is 1.67" below average and ranks as the 30th driest on record, tied with 1910. This is the first month since this past May with below-average precipitation.

After two warm and wet months to start off the summer of 2013, August provided an about face in the temperature department. The 71.6° statewide mean is 1.8° below the 1981-2010 average and ranks as the 41st coolest August since statewide records commenced in 1895. It was only 0.1° warmer than this past June. Precipitation averaged 4.50", which is 0.29" above normal and makes this the 51st wettest of the past 119 Augusts.

What a change from July. There were only four afternoons when the temperature was 90° or higher somewhere in the state, compared with 18 in July. The warmest it got was 93° at Harrison (Hudson County) on the 21st and only nine stations reached 90° at some point during the month, compared to most of the 50 NJWxNet stations reaching that mark in July.

Rain, rain and, more rain was the theme for New Jersey weather in June 2013. When all was said and done, statewide average precipitation totaled 9.57", a record for any June back to 1895 (Table 1). Temperatures were above average too. The average of 71.3° was 1.2° above the 1981-2010 mean and ranked as the 19th warmest June. These averages are derived from an evaluation of several dozen long-term National Weather Service Cooperative Observing (Coop) stations situated throughout the state.

More on thermal conditions later in this report, but first back to the precipitation. The 9.57" total was 5.55" above the 4.02" average. Tropical Storm Andrea brought the most abundant rain of the month, but there were 13 days during the month when an inch or more accumulated at one or more locations. A point of information is warranted here. While over an inch fell in some locations on the afternoon of the 30th, most Coop observers had already reported for the day, as had Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) observers. Most take measurements close to 7 AM, with the historic rule being that the morning observation "ends" that particular calendar day. Thus any rain after that time on the last day of a month is reported on the 1st of the following month. While this practice can be debated, one can only compare June 2013 with previous Junes by following suit.