As reported multiple times during the first half of 2022, the day-to-day weather and overall climate of the Garden State have varied frequently, exhibiting lots of variability and never “locking” into a given pattern for an extended period of several weeks or longer. Such was the case this June, making it difficult to define any conditions that dominated. June was somewhat drier than average, but eight events brought over an inch of rain somewhere within the state. It was also dry enough at one point for a wildfire to scorch over 13,000 acres of the Pine Barrens.

Many across NJ wondered if the incessant back and forth of weather conditions from early spring into May would ever cease and the more consistent warmth of late spring would arrive and persist. It took time this year, with a cool, damp start to May that included a nine-day interval of almost continuous onshore easterly flow. Come mid-month the seasonal transition was finally complete, and daytime highs mostly remained above 70° away from the coast and higher elevations. This included two episodes where temperatures exceeded 90°.

As has been the case for the past several months, weather patterns have been reluctant to persist for more than several days to about a week. While climatologically rather common as winter transitions to summer, this season has seemingly been consistently inconsistent beyond the norm. April saw temperatures reach well into the 80°s on several days, followed a short time later by a hard freeze in most inland locations. Rainfall was above normal, more than twice so in the northwest, which is a reversal of the general pattern since late fall.

When it comes to shedding the winter coat and thinking of warm weather to come, March is known to have its early spring teases. Then, along comes some late winter cold to remind us winter is not quite ready to disappear. This spring foolery was on exceptional display this month. High temperatures jumped into the 70°s on the 6th and 7th, then back to the cold until the 70° mark was again eclipsed during four of the five days from the 15th–19th.

The second month of 2022 and third month of winter continued a theme since December. Whether you call it a see saw, swing, or merry-go-round, it fits the theme of playground equipment as it never seemed any one particular variety of weather became established for all that long. More will be said about winter at the end of this report, but when it came to February, the end result was a somewhat warmer-than-normal month with about average precipitation and a dearth of snowfall.

When it comes to cold and snow, the second month of winter wasn’t anything like the first. New Jersey was right in the heart of winter to start off 2022, and nowhere was that more apparent than in southern coastal counties where far more than an average winter’s snow fell. At some locations, the total exceeded that of the most recent three winters combined. The prevailing storm track was such that the northwest corner of the state received the least snow, yet saw seven days with low temperatures dipping below zero.

Following a cooler-than-normal November, it was back to the mild side in December, the ninth such month in 2021. However, much like November, the last month of 2021 was a top 10 dry one. An annual recap follows the December report where more will be said regarding annual temperature and precipitation.

November was the first month since May 2020 with both averages of precipitation and temperature below 1991–2020 normals.

October was the second mildest on record in the Garden State since records commenced in 1895. This follows on the heels of the 11th warmest September, leaving most residents wondering when cool weather would arrive and leaves would turn and fall. For the first time since at least 1900, not a single weather observing station in New Jersey recorded a freezing low temperature on any day in either September or, as is climatologically most common, October. All of this resulted in a leaf season that was delayed by one to two weeks.

Post-tropical storm Ida. The title of this month’s report speaks to this momentous weather extreme that will forever be the defining event of this month and likely the entire year. The storm delivered the most powerful tornado to strike the Garden State since 1990, demolishing multiple homes in Gloucester County. Rainfall exceeding 3.00” per hour led to the most widespread flash flood event on record for the state, resulting in the tragic deaths of 30 individuals in central and northeastern locales.

Whether the thermometer was reading high or low this August or whether rain was falling or not, one factor that most always had to be considered was the high level of humidity. The “Dog Days” of summer indeed. Of course, there was much else to consider this month, including contributions of rain from two tropical storms, one of which brought the largest crests on some rivers since May 1, 2014, 11 days where one or more locations received at least 2.00” of rain, and 16 days where the high temperature reached 90° or higher somewhere in the state.

Wow, what a month. July 2021 provided a never-ending cascade of weather events, including a tropical storm, a record-tying number of tornadoes, large hail, flash floods, hot days, chilly nights, smoke-filled skies, and on the last day of the month, perhaps the nicest day of the summer. The statewide average precipitation of 7.59” was 2.88” above the 1991–2020 normal and ranked 8th wettest of all Julys back to 1895 (Table 1). It was the wettest July since 1975 and second wettest in almost 50 years.