The three primary global weather prediction models – the American, Canadian and European – all agree that chances are excellent the afternoon will be rain-free.
The American model is predicting temperatures in the low 70s when the eclipse beings at 2:09 p.m., peaks at 3:24 p.m. and ends at 4:35 p.m., give or take a few minutes depending on where you’re in Central Jersey.
But the three models have different forecasts how much of the sky will be covered by clouds during the eclipse.
The American is the most pessimistic, predicting 55% of the sky will be covered by clouds, the definition of partly cloudy.
The Canadian is more optimistic, saying 27% of the sky will be covered by clouds.
The European gives the sunniest forecast, predicting only 10% of the sky will be covered by clouds.
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The three models agree the chance of rain is slim – the American with a 20% chance, the Canadian with a 15% chance and European with a 10% chance.All three models agree the Northeast will be under a ridge of high pressure, which will keep cloudy and wet weather a thousand miles away.
These are long-range weather models, and they will be more precise and accurate within five days of the eclipse.
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: NJ weather for solar eclipse: Early forecast for Central Jersey