Temperatures are going up, as is our risk of fire throughout the tri-state area — leading to another red flag warning and fire weather watches as brush fires popped up in New Jersey on Tuesday.
The dry spell continues with at least three more days of sunny skies, paired with temperatures going up, up, and way into the 80s starting Wednesday and lasting through Friday.
Some areas will reach or possibly even top 80 degrees on Wednesday, and temperatures will hit the mid 80s for Thursday and Friday. New York City's Friday forecast is 85 degrees, close to what is average for early July (minus the humidity).
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The combination of high pressure, super-dry air and a light breeze Wednesday will again lead to a higher fire risk for the area. A red flag warning, meaning a heightened risk of fire spread, is in effect for New York City and parts of Long Island once again. In case you forgot, here's what that means (and check the latest weather alerts here).
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Several brush fires broke out in New Jersey, which has been plagued by a number of them over the last month. They were reported Tuesday afternoon and evening in Brick, Howell Township and Teaneck — while the largest one was burning in Ocean County. In that fire, in the town of Manchester, hundreds of acres had been scorched and it was nowhere near contained heading into Wednesday. There were no reports of injuries.
There was also a fire at a Jersey City recycling plant that sparked other nearby brush fires after embers flew around in the dry winds.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Mother Nature will be helping with the dryness. We shouldn't be visited by another bout of rain until late-day showers for some on Saturday, then more widespread rain Sunday evening.
Most of the record high temperatures for Friday were set all the way back in the 1940s. We should be within a degree or two of reaching those highs for Central Park, LaGuardia and JFK airports, as well as Bridgeport and Poughkeepsie.
Check out the glorious 10-day forecast for NYC below. After the rain comes over the weekend, expect conditions that are closer to reality for next week, with temperatures in the 50s and 60s as a cold front comes through.
