Major winter storm to give us heavy rain and strong winds from this afternoon through Friday morning! Arctic front will pass our area early Friday afternoon followed by much colder air! Dry but very cold weather for the Christmas weekend! Continued dry through the middle of next week with a slow moderation in temperatures!


Good morning everyone!

Skies are mostly cloudy to cloudy early on this Thursday morning and early temperatures range from 29 in Clifton down to 20 at Walpack. Winds are mainly calm or light north-northeasterly.

CLIFTON’S ALMANAC FOR DECEMBER 22ND:

AVERAGE HIGH: 41 AVERAGE LOW: 24

RECORD HIGH: 69 – 2013 RECORD LOW: 0 – 1989

YESTERDAY’S HIGH: 44 LOW: 23 PRECIPITATION: NONE

A major winter storm will be moving to our west today, rain from this system will begin around noon possibly mixed with snow or sleet over the higher elevations to our north and west. Temperatures will rise into the 40s by this afternoon. Rain will become heavy with strong winds tonight with temperatures rising to the 50s after midnight. The Jet football game at Met Life stadium tonight should be quite nasty with the heavy rain and winds.

Mild with rain showers ahead of the Arctic front that will pass by our area in the early afternoon followed by much colder air, some snow showers are possible in the afternoon. Temperatures in the 50s ahead of the front dropping sharply to the near 20 by sunset and the low teens by early Saturday morning with continued gusty winds to 45 mph. Total rainfall amounts will be between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches mostly falling tonight.

A very cold Christmas eve and Christmas day as highs will only be in the 20s, the last time both of these days were this cold was in 1989.

High pressure building into the area will cause dry conditions Monday through Wednesday with a slow moderation in temperatures.

Looking further ahead it will become much milder toward the end of the week. New Year’s weekend will likely have highs in the 50s, quite a change from what we will have this weekend.

THE FORECAST:

TODAY – DEC 22 – Rain developing around noon may briefly start with some sleet, high in the upper 40s.

TONIGHT – Rain heavy at times with a chance of a thunderstorm, becoming very windy with gusts to 40 mph, temperatures rising to the mid 50s by 4 a.m.

FRIDAY – DEC 23 – Rain showers in the morning with a possible thunderstorm, much colder with some snow showers possible in the afternoon, becoming much cold with a flash freeze possible. Morning highs in the 50s will drop to only around 20 by sunset. Winds gusting to 45 mph. Total rainfall between 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 inches likely.

SATURDAY – DEC 24 – Sunny, breezy and very cold, highs only in the low 20s.

CHRISTMAS DAY – DEC 25 – Sunny, high in the upper 20s.

MONDAY – DEC 26 – Sunny, high in the low 30s.

TUESDAY – DEC 27 – Mostly sunny, high in the mid 30s.

WEDNESDAY – DEC 28 – Mostly sunny, high in the upper 30s.

MARINE FORECAST: A small craft advisory will be in effect from 11 a.m. this morning until 7 p.m. this evening for easterly winds gusting to 30 knots, seas 3-6 feet.

OUTLOOK: A gale warning has been posted effective between 7 p.m. this evening through 1 a.m. Saturday morning; advisories expected to continue the rest of Saturday into Sunday; no advisories expected for Monday and Tuesday.

Despite the stormy weather today try to have a nice day and stay safe!

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