New Jersey Weather: 2 shots of light snow are forecast as the cold air continues

A cloud of freezing air from central Canada is expected to hang around New Jersey over the next few days and could help bring light snow showers to our region, according to forecasters.

A snowfall could fall in southern New Jersey on Sunday night, leaving a very thin layer on the ground, the National Weather Service said.

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Meteorologists are also keeping an eye on an Alberta Clipper system – a fast-moving storm from the Alberta region of Canada – that could get close enough to New Jersey and the New York City suburbs to drop some snow Wednesday night into Thursday morning .

“Given the cold air mass, light snow is expected across much of the region, with a rain/snow mix a little closer to the coast and NYC,” the weather service’s New York regional forecast office said. “With this system, precipitation is expected to be light and little to no snow accumulation is expected at this time.”

AccuWeather forecasters say a sharp decline in the jet stream, a narrow band of strong currents in the atmosphere, is causing cold Arctic air from Canada to sink as far south as North Carolina. The large drop is causing temperatures in many central and eastern U.S. states to be about 5 to 15 degrees below normal in late November and early December.

The cold air is expected to continue throughout the week in New Jersey, with daytime highs only reaching the upper 30s to lower 40s and overnight lows falling into the upper teens to lower 20s.

Some parts of Sussex, Warren and Burlington counties got as cold as the upper teens Saturday morning, according to temperature data from the Rutgers NJ Weather Network.

The coldest locations included Walpack (18 degrees), High Point Monument (19 degrees), Oxford (19 degrees) and Woodland Township (19 degrees).

Current weather radar