The final day of autumn on Friday will bring a shot of winter weather to New Jersey with up to a couple of inches of snow in northern areas by Saturday morning before a very cold weekend.
Forecasters are calling for 1 to 2 inches across much of northern New Jersey and further south into Somerset, Hunterdon and parts of Middlesex counties with less than an inch expected across the rest of the state.
Light precipitation pushes in from south to north this morning into the afternoon, the National Weather Service said. Mixed precipitation is expected north and west of Interstate 95 at times, too.
AccuWeather.com said there is still some uncertainty to the forecast.
“Conditions around New York City are tricky,” AccuWeather.com meteorologist Bernie Rayno said. “They can get a coating to an inch or two of snow from the clipper storm, perhaps a bit more if the coastal storm tracks farther west, or they could be in a rip-off zone where nothing to a few flurries occur.”
The time of light snow expected to fall in New Jersey is dependent on location in the state.National Weather Service
Temperatures will range from the mid 30s to the low 40s with periods of light rain during the afternoon except in higher elevations of northwest New Jersey.
The weather service also said there’s some some uncertainty in the outlook for Friday night.
“This is a difficult forecast and snowfall amounts could be locally higher than forecast depending on the location of the (low pressure) later tonight,” the service’s Mount Holly office said early Friday.
Central and South Jersey areas that see rain during the day are expected to see a snow or mixed precipitation during the overnight hours.
“Rain should gradually transition to a rain/snow mix and eventually to a light snow across the coastal plain overnight before precipitation begins to wind down early on Saturday,” the weather service said in its morning forecast discussion.
Expect a “slushy coating” up to an inch in South Jersey, forecasters say
Winter begins at 4:20 a.m. Saturday and it will be quite the cold start to the season. Any lingering snow showers will taper off by mid to later morning and temperatures will only climb into the mid to upper 20s except along the Jersey Shore where highs will reach the mid 30s . It’ll feel much colder though thanks to 15 to 20 mph winds that gust as high as 30 mph so winds chill values will be in the teens and 20s.
Overnight winds will of 10 to 15 mph will gust as high as 25 mph making it feel like it’s in the single digits.
Sunday will be frigid too, with highs across New Jersey not making it out of the upper 20s before falling into single digits overnight.
Monday and Christmas Eve Tuesday will dry with some sun and slightly below normal highs in the 30s.
Current weather radar
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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
