Last Day of Rain

Central Park by Ralph Hockens on Flickr

New Jersey gets all the fun. Spotters across northern New Jersey reported pea-to-marble-sized hail last night. Marble-sized hail is typically closer in diameter to mib, rather than shooter or Elgin marbles. While New York didn't see any solid precipitation, nearly two inches of the liquid stuff has fallen on Central Park since Monday. More rain is in store today.

Two low pressure systems are battling it out to see which can bring us more rain. This morning's clouds and rain are from the low that's off the Virginia coast. As that storm moves northeastward it will weaken. That low is being left in the dust by the upper level disturbance supporting it. By this afternoon the upper level system will be causing a new low to form off the New England coast. The Yojimbo-worthy dealings of the upper level system mean widespread rain early, followed by showers and thunderstorms late this afternoon and evening. The latter system looks to mostly stay east of the city. Today's high will be near 60.

A cold front will begin to sweep all this moisture away tonight. Look for tomorrow to be a breezy transition, with a high in the low 60s, to an unseasonably warm weekend. Expect a sunny, warm Friday with a high near 70. September 21st was the last time the mercury reached 80 degrees in the city. There's a good chance that barrier will be broken Saturday or Sunday.