Weather stations in 13 New Jersey counties hit 20 degrees or below Wednesday morning, and one city in South Jersey broke a daily temperature record.
The sub-freezing air that returned to New Jersey Wednesday morning wasn't just an early spring annoyance. It also was a record-breaker, at least in one area of the state.
Around daybreak in Atlantic City, the mercury dropped to 22 degrees, setting a new record low for the city for April 6, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Valerie Meola. The city's old record was 24 degrees, set in 1982.
Trenton's low of 23 degrees Wednesday morning was two degrees shy of tying its record low for April 6, Meola said.
But many places across the Garden State, from Sussex County down to Atlantic County, saw temperatures dipping down to the frigid teens early Wednesday morning, about 15 degrees lower than normal for this time of the year.
Active hurricane season could be on way
Among the coldest spots were Walpack in Sussex County, with a reading of 14 degrees, Berkeley Township in Ocean County, with a reading of 15 degrees, and Pequest in Warren County, which also hit 15 degrees, according to temperature data from the New Jersey Weather & Climate Network at Rutgers University.
Overall, weather stations in 13 counties across the state had lows that dropped to 20 degrees or below in the morning.
A noticeable warmup is underway in the afternoon, with the mercury rising into the upper 40s to the low 50s, thanks to a southerly breeze that's pushing warmer air into New Jersey, Meola said.
Along with the warmer air will be moisture moving in on Thursday, bringing rain showers and the possibility of isolated thunderstorms. When the rain winds down on Friday morning, some snow could mix in up in the higher elevations in Sussex and Warren counties, Meola said, but no accumulation is expected.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @LensReality. Find NJ.com on Facebook.