Hazardous Weather Outlook For N.J. This Week

By the end of this week, the recent spate of hot weather that hit New Jersey could look like ancient history.

Parts of N.J. actually have snow in the forecast, as this week's weather prompted the National Weather Service to issue a hazardous weather outlook.

Here is what the National Weather Service is saying:

• Four counties — Bergen, Passaic, Sussex and Warren — have "likely" snow showers in the forecast for Thursday as a cold front hits New Jersey this week.
• Those four counties received a hazardous weather outlook that says a "wintry mix of precipitation is possible through mid-morning on Thursday, leading to icy spots on roads and walkways."
• The rest of the state received an alert for freezing or colder-than-normal temperatures that could cause roads to be slick, with a widespread frost that's likely for Tuesday night.

Other forecasters were expressing some shock at the prediction:

After a chilly and blustery weekend, an even cooler air mass will sweep across the region as a front dives southward, according to an AccuWeather release.

"A chilly high pressure system will build across the Great Lakes, eastern Ohio Valley into the Northeast," AccuWeather Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok said in the release.

The coolest air will arrive on Tuesday and Wednesday, when highs will range between 5 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit below normal.

Highs in the upper 30s to middle 40s will be common across New York and New England, with highs generally in the upper 40s to upper 50s in the mid-Atlantic. Late-night and morning temperatures will drop into the 20s across much of New York and New England, with 30s expected elsewhere across the region.

Here is the forecast for the state:

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 62. Northwest wind 13 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.

Monday night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. Northwest wind 9 to 16 mph.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 53. West wind 10 to 17 mph.

Tuesday night: Widespread frost after 2am. Otherwise, mostly clear, with a low around 32. Northwest wind 8 to 11 mph.

Wednesday: Widespread frost before 10 a.m. Otherwise, sunny, with a high near 50. Northwest wind 9 to 11 mph.

Wednesday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 38.

Thursday: Showers likely (snow showers in Bergen, Passaic, Warren and Sussex counties before 10 a.m.), mainly after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Thursday night: Showers likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 46. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent.

Patch file photo