Forecasters say the heat wave that's currently underway could stretch as long as five to seven days.
If you're drenched with sweat when you're walking or working outside on Friday, just remember how bad it was exactly five years ago.
That's when New Jersey was sweltering through a brutal summer heat wave, and the mercury on July 22 climbed to a record-shattering 108 degrees at Newark Liberty International Airport.
That was, and still is, the hottest temperature on record in Newark and just two degrees shy of the highest temperature ever recorded anywhere in the Garden State -- 110 degrees, according to New Jersey State Climatologist David Robinson at Rutgers University.
The blistering 110-degree reading was recorded in the Runyon section of Old Bridge on July 10, 1936, Robinson said. And we're not talking about the heat index. This was the actual air temperature.
Another steamy heat wave on the way
As for this weekend, New Jersey is heating up once again, with the mercury climbing into the low to mid-90s Friday and the mid- to upper 90s on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The hottest regions of the state are expected to be the counties closest to Philadelphia: Burlington, Camden and Mercer.
"We're definitely looking at the high 90s for the hottest temperatures here," said Mitchell Gaines, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's regional office in Mount Holly. "Maybe we could push 100 for one day" in the Philly suburbs.
On Friday, highs around the state are likely going to top out in the mid-90s, so it's doubtful any daily temperature records will be matched or broken. Newark would have to hit 108, Trenton would have to hit 106, Atlantic City would have to hit 105 and Flemington would have to reach 104, according to climate data from the weather service.
New Jersey has a slight risk of getting isolated thunderstorms on Friday and again on Monday, but Gaines said the rain would only be "a temporary reprieve" from the intense heat that's expected to linger for a while.
"It's going to be a five- to seven-day stretch of hot and humid conditions," he said.
The longest heat wave in New Jersey so far this summer was a five-day string of 90-plus temperatures from July 14 to July 18.
Elsewhere in the region, the hottest temperature ever recorded on July 22 in Central Park in New York City was 104, and the hottest in Philadelphia on July 22 was 103. Both of those marks were hit exactly five years ago, in 2011.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality or like him on Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.