Parts of New Jersey may see more than planned fireworks in the sky on Thursday, with isolated thunderstorms expected to pop up in the afternoon and evening on what is shaping up to be a very steamy Fourth of July with high humidity.
Although forecasters are not expecting a total washout on the Independence Day holiday, they are advising people with outdoor plans to keep an eye on the sky and monitor any weather alerts because of the risk of nasty weather interfering with fireworks displays or other holiday events.
The National Weather Service says some isolated showers or thunderstorms could break out early Thursday morning, especially in northwestern sections of New Jersey and northeastern Pennsylvania, but the threat of wet weather will likely grow higher across the entire region later in the day.
A warm front moving across our area could spark some scattered rain showers and thunderstorms anywhere in New Jersey in the afternoon and evening, the weather service says, noting some of the storm cells could become strong with heavy downpours and powerful wind gusts.
New Jersey's Fourth of July will be a hot and sticky one, with temperatures rising into the upper 80s in interior areas and humidity rising to uncomfortable levels. Added to that is a risk of scattered thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.National Weather Service
For most interior sections of the state, Thursday should start off with partly sunny skies, with temperatures rising into the upper 80s in the afternoon and humidity levels climbing high to uncomfortable levels, forecasters said. Temperatures along the Jersey Shore are forecast to hover in the mid- to upper 70s.
Because of the high temperatures and humidity, the weather service has issued a heat advisory for several counties — Camden, Gloucester, Mercer and Salem, along with northwestern Burlington, effective from 10 a.m. Thursday through 8 p.m. Friday. The heat index, how hot it feels to humans when temperatures and humidity are combined, could rise as high as 102 degrees in those parts of the state.
Unfortunately, Friday and Saturday are also expected to be very hot and humid days across New Jersey, with possible spotty showers and thunderstorms at times.
Forecasters say rain showers and thunderstorms will likely become more widespread on Saturday — with some of those storms having the potential to drop heavy rain over a short time-frame and lead to isolated areas of flash flooding, river flooding and stream flooding.
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Stories by Len Melisurgo
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Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.