The National Weather Service is predicting a holiday weekend for the ages, as the Jersey Shore prepares for the unofficial close of the summer tourism season with Labor Day weekend approaching.
After what has largely been a banner year for beaches, boating and seasonal businesses, the approaching long weekend will offer weather that can only be described as a perfect last hurrah for the height of summer. A round of storms that moved through Tuesday night was captured on the way in by our cameras, with a video appearing above, but literally and figuratively, smooth sailing is ahead, according to forecasters.
Sun will return Wednesday with a high of 88 degrees, the NWS forecast said, and it will not retreat until late next Monday. Sunny skies are forecast for every day through Monday, the Labor Day holiday itself, with highs ranging from the mid-to-high 80s each day in between, depending on how close one is to the ocean. The NWS forecast calls for no chance of rain until Monday evening, when there will be a 30 percent chance of a thunderstorm – but even then, the day will be marked by partly cloudy skies and a high of 85 degrees.
Winds are expected to remain calm through the week, with no tropical systems presenting looming threats. Unusual for late August and early September, there are no named tropical systems currently formed, and only a single tropical wave between the west coast of Africa and the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean is being watched by forecasters.
The one down side on the horizon, of course, is the shortened amount of daylight as the difficult truth of the impending change of seasons sinks in. After Sept. 1, the sun will be setting on or before 7:30 p.m. for the first time in quite a while. At the same time, sunrise continues to creep closer to 6:30 a.m.
Fortunately, “local summer” looks to get off to a promising start with a positive weather pattern – and if recent history is any guide, there will likely be more participants in post-Labor Day fun than ever before.
