Timeline For Severe NJ Weather: Record Heat, Thunderstorms

NEW JERSEY — Here's something you haven't heard in a while: Severe weather is expected in New Jersey on Wednesday, and it's the kind of forecast that's typical of July and August.

That means record-heat — for October — is expected Wednesday, with temperatures hitting the 90-degree range. And, like summer, thunderstorms may follow.

The temperatures will peak throughout New Jersey around 2 p.m. The 90-degree temperatures would match records set on Oct. 2, 1927.

The heat will be sweltering, with high humidity, before thunderstorms could arrive. The storms will possibly begin sometime between 5 and 8 p.m., and they'll be mainly confined to North Jersey.

Rain is then expected to fall through Wednesday and Thursday, with the majority of it happening on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

On Friday, a change in the weather pattern will soon lead to progressively more vigorous bursts of cool air, while warm episodes will be less frequent and not as extreme as recent weeks in the northeastern United States, according to AccuWeather.

The pattern will end up being more typical of mid-October, rather than the middle of August, and can even lead to a touch of snow in the coldest spots, according to AccuWeather.

The burst of cool air will be "quite a shock," Paul Pastelok, AccuWeather's lead long-range forecaster, said in an AccuWeather release. When comparing highs from the peak of the heat this week to the late-night and early-morning lows this weekend, some locations will experience a 50-degree swing, the release says.

Here is the forecast:

• Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 3 p.m. Partly sunny, with a high near 83. West wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
• Wednesday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely after 9 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 48. Northeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60 percent. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
• Thursday: Showers likely before 9 a.m., then rain likely after 9 a.m. Cloudy, with a high near 54. Northeast wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
• Thursday night: Rain likely before 3 a.m., then a chance of showers after 3 a.m. Cloudy, with a low around 49. Southeast wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.
• Friday: A slight chance of showers before 9 a.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 59. Northwest wind 9 to 16 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20 percent.