After weeks of dry conditions, North Jersey residents may be able to get a little break Sunday evening as the National Weather Service predicts a high chance of widespread rain showers.
The chance of rain starts as early as 1 p.m., said John Murray, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The chance increases after 4 p.m., with the highest chance – from 80% to 85% – occurring on Sunday evening. North Jersey can expect between a quarter and a half inch of rain.
“Those rain showers can be expected pretty much all night tonight,” Murray said. Dry conditions return between 7am and 10am on Monday and will persist for “much of next week”, with the next chance of rain on Thursday.
🌧️Will we see widespread measurable rain from Sunday night into early Monday?
🌧️Yes, the chance of rain is quite high and everyone should be able to see about a quarter to half an inch. pic.twitter.com/bsLGz3I8ml— NWS New York NY (@NWSNewYorkNY) November 9, 2024
This will be the first significant rainfall in New Jersey in more than 35 days, National Weather Service meteorologist Joe DeSilva told NorthJersey.com on Friday.
Statewide averages, less than an inch of rain fell during the 61 days of September and October, marking the state’s driest consecutive months on record. According to New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson, October saw virtually no rain, setting a record for the driest calendar month in the state’s recorded history, dating back to 1895.
Murray said Newark has had no rain so far in November, making it about an inch below normal through Nov. 9. Since September 1, Newark has received just 89 hundredths of an inch of rain, compared to the normal figure of 8.58 inches.
As of Sunday morning, all of New Jersey remains under a drought warning, according to the New Jersey Drought Maps, with parts of North and Central Jersey categorized under ‘moderate’ to ‘severe’ drought and parts of South Jersey experiencing ‘ extreme circumstances’. According to Drought.gov, the risk of wildfires and ground fires in New Jersey is increasing due to moderate drought. There are several wildfires currently burning in the state.
According to Murray, while we will see some showers, they likely won’t provide much relief in terms of drought.
“An updated map will be out later this week… but I would say that compared to what is expected to be normal for this time of year, we will still have quite a large deficit below normal, especially if we look to rainfall since September 1, even with the additional rainfall we get later this afternoon into this evening.”
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Rain showers in the forecast for Sunday evening in New Jersey
