New Jerseyans will have to wait until next week to feel some real relief.
The long and often-oppressive August heat wave in New Jersey is finally over, with temperatures across the northern half of the state failing to climb out of the 80s on Wednesday and the southern half lingering in the 90s on Wednesday but dipping down into the 80s on Thursday for the first time in more than a week.
For most of South Jersey, this turned out to be an eight-day heat wave, the longest one of the summer, according to climate data from the National Weather Service and the New Jersey Weather & Climate Network at Rutgers University. Most areas of northern and central New Jersey ended up with a seven-day heat wave, just short of tying their longest heat wave of the summer -- eight days in late July.
Dramatic lightning caught on video
Despite the temperature dropping into the 80s, the humidity will still be noticeable Thursday and Friday before climbing once again to uncomfortable levels over the weekend.
"The humidity is coming back," said Nick Sharr, a meteorologist at the WeatherWorks forecasting company, based in Hackettstown. "We're talking about real humid on Saturday," and the stickiness is expected to linger on Sunday.
Although Friday is shaping up to be a dry and mostly sunny day, there's a threat of scattered showers and thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday.
The real relief, Sharr said, will arrive late Sunday, as a cold front from the north and west moves through New Jersey, setting the stage for noticeably drier air and comfortable temperatures in the lower 80s.
Comparing the long heat waves
In Newark, one of the primary climate stations in New Jersey, the July heat wave stretched eight days and the August heat wave lasted seven days. The average high temperature during those heat waves was 95.1 in July and 95.0 in August, but the dew point readings were much higher in August (75.9 degrees) than in July (68.5 degrees), boosting the humidity and making it feel more oppressive.
In general, dew point temperatures between 66 and 70 degrees are considered uncomfortable, those from 71 to 75 are considered oppressive and those that are 76 degrees or higher are the worst.
With the humidity factored in, the August heat wave was far worse than the July heat wave, with the maximum heat index averaging 102.9 degrees during this month's heat wave compared to 95.5 degrees during last month's heat wave.
Among the climate sites that had eight straight days of temperatures in the 90s were Atlantic City, Cape May Court House, Hamilton, Hammonton, Logan Township, West Deptford and Woodbine.
Among those with a seven-day heat wave were Berkeley Township, Cherry Hill, Clayton, Cream Ridge, Dennis Township, Egg Harbor, Hillsborough, Hopewell, Howell, Newark, New Brunswick and Trenton.
The heat wave lasted six days in Haworth, Hawthorne, Holmdel and Jersey City, five days in Oceanport, Sea Girt, Toms River and Wall, and only four days in Hackettstown, Hope, Pittstown, Point Pleasant and Ramsey.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.