New Jersey enjoys respite from recent string of July heat waves

After suffering through a brutal winter, New Jersey residents have been getting a break this month from oppressive summertime heat.

Some coastal areas and parts of Northwest Jersey have not had a single day of 90-degree or higher temperatures in July.

While it’s been hotter in some towns, New Jersey state climatologist Dave Robinson said the average statewide July temperature has been about normal.

“This is in marked contrast to the last four Julys, all of them ranked in the top six amongst the last 120 Julys in New Jersey for heat,” he said Wednesday. “So this is quite a comfortable respite.”

Robinson says a dip in the jet stream in the eastern part of the country is keeping hot and humid air from being pumped up into the region.

As for August, Robinson said expects the cooler, drier pattern will persist into early next month.

“While we’ve had some very notable heat waves in late August over the historic record, as temperatures on average start cooling later in the month, the heat isn’t necessarily quite as hot as you often see earlier in the summer,” he said.