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Smokey skies leads to another day of unhealthy air across NJ

Saturday's storms brings relief for the smoke situation, but it will be storming on a Saturday. Sunday looks salvageable.

Dave Curren

Jul 16, 2026, 3:50 PM

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The one and only benefit of the smoky haze that blankets the northeast right now is that it absorbs a lot of the solar radiation from the sun. Temperatures aren't nearly as hot as they could have been without that curtain of smoke in the air.

Today's forecast was supposed to be 93 degrees. We didn't crack 90 degrees. And with us not making it to 90 today, the forecasted fourth heatwave of the summer did not happen.

So, how much longer do we have to deal with such conditions? It looks like at least one more day. That plume of smoke continues to drift our way on the upper-level winds. It will be hazy and smoke-filled for tonight and tomorrow. What brings relief, so to speak, will be a collection of storms moving through on Saturday.

Saturday, right now, is looking quite stormy. On-and-off storms will be cruising through the state from late morning through most of the evening hours. The rain will dilute the smoke, and eventually the upper-level wind pattern shifts, thus cleansing our meteorological palette.

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While Saturday will have most of us indoors, Sunday is salvageable. Don't be surprised if there is a lingering shower very early Sunday morning. The weather system will be slowly moving offshore, eventually dragging much nicer weather towards the area for the remainder of the day.

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