Remember those recent bursts of Arctic air, the ones that ruined our April in New Jersey? They might be gone for good.
It looks like New Jersey can finally say goodbye to all that cold air that's been filtering down from Canada this month, but it still will be a few more days before a consistent string of spring-like weather arrives and sticks around.
Forecasters say the Garden State will see a gradual warmup the next few days, but gray skies and rain will spoil Monday and Tuesday. After that, the weather picture is encouraging.
"It looks pretty good as we get to the latter part of the weekend and into next week," said Jim Bunker, observing program leader at the National Weather Service's regional office in Mount Holly.
"On Sunday it looks like we're gonna be in the mid to upper 60s, and next Monday in the upper 60s to low 70s," Bunker said.
That's a huge turnaround from the frigid temperatures New Jersey had to cope with during the past week, as the polar vortex weakened, sending bursts of Arctic air dipping into Canada and into the northern United States. The frigid temperatures sparked freeze warnings across most of New Jersey on several nights and mornings and also turned rain into snow across parts of the state on Saturday.
Cold days in April
Despite getting off to a warm start in early April in Atlantic City, the low temperature dropped to 32 degrees or colder on seven of the first 10 days of the month, according to climate data from the National Weather Service. In Newark and Trenton, it was 32 degrees or colder on five of the first 10 days of April.
The normal low temperature in early April ranges from 40 degrees in North Jersey to 42 degrees in South Jersey.
On average, temperatures will be running slightly below normal during most of this week, but it probably will feel even warmer than it actually is because of the recent blast of Arctic air, said weather service meteorologist Jared Klein.
"In March, it felt like late spring," Klein said. And just when we all got accustomed to those warmer temperatures, a much colder trend developed in early April.
"It was kind of a shock to the system," Klein said.
But now, the long-range outlook is looking favorable and it appears spring is finally going to start feeling like spring.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.