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From big chill to big warmup, N.J. sees wild temperature swings

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In a short time span, Garden State goes from Arctic blast to balmy weather, with temperatures rising as much as 40 to 50 degrees. Watch video

In most places across New Jersey, if you happened to venture outside during the morning on Valentine's Day, you were hit by a blast of single-digit temperatures. And in some spots, the mercury plunged below zero -- without the wind chill factored in.

Fast forward two days, and the big chill has quickly transformed into the big warmup. The bone-chilling Arctic blast has been replaced with a balmy, rainy day in which temperatures are as much as 40 to 50 degrees higher. Suddenly it feels more like April than February.

That's how dramatic the temperature swings have been during the past week.

New Jersey went through four straight days with temperatures that didn't even reach the freezing mark of 32 degrees. That was followed by a turbulent Presidents Day, when the Garden State was pelted by a nasty storm that brought a mix of snow, sleet and freezing rain.

On Monday morning, the air was still frigid, with temperatures around the state ranging from the single digits to the teens. Later in the day, as warmer air flowed in from the south and east, the mercury rose into the 20s and 30s in northwestern counties and into the 30s, 40s and lower 50s everywhere else.

And now the entire state has temperatures ranging from the upper 40s to the upper 50s.

A rare occurrence in February?

Weather experts say big temperature swings like this are impressive, but not uncommon.

"It's not like something overly crazy is happening," said Rob Reale, a meteorologist at WeatherWorks in Hackettstown. "The fact that there are temperature fluctuations, that's not really anything abnormal."

New Jersey just happened to get hit with warmer air very quickly after getting socked with near-zero and sub-zero air, Reale said. Instead of a gradual warmup over a few days or longer, the Garden State saw a rapid warmup in about one day.

Sleet vs. freezing rain: What is the difference?

Jim Bunker, observing program leader at the National Weather Service regional office in Mount Holly, agrees that temperature swings like this are not rare.

"Overall, it's nothing out of the ordinary," Bunker said. "We just tapped into cold Arctic air. Now, with a good southerly flow, temperatures are warming up fast."

The warm air sweeping into New Jersey on Tuesday is from a low-pressure system that moved up from the southeastern Gulf Coast, a different system than the one from the Tennessee Valley that brought mixed precipitation on Monday, Bunker said. The wind-swept rain is expected to continue throughout the afternoon before ending Tuesday evening.

In the meantime, we can still marvel over those wild temperature swings.

Here's a look at the big fluctuations in central New Jersey during the past several days.

Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

 

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