Long-term forecasts aren’t easy, but better baseball weather is coming, says State Climatologist

Sure, it rained a lot this fall, starting in September, and seemingly on every high school football weekend.

But did you know that from December through the end of March, it was the rainiest stretch of those four months in recorded history – 130 years – in New Jersey?

Not to mention the first three days of April bringing almost an entire months’ worth of rain with it.

That’s the bad news from State Climatologist Dave Robinson, who – as his title suggests – is not a meteorologist or a weather forecaster looking at the next few days of weather. Rather, as a climatologist, he deals more with long-term weather patterns, historically, and in the future.

But Robinson has some good news:  warmer, sunnier weather is coming, at least over the next couple of weeks.  And not only will that mean we can get down to playing some baseball, but the warmer conditions are needed to help water evaporate and improve the condition of the many water-logged grass fields across the area.

Losing out on the first three days of the season due to rain can cause a ripple effect in the schedule. Wedging makeup games in the schedule tests pitching staffs that may not be as deep, with limits on pitches and back-to-back appearances.

Already, many games have been moved to alternate sites. The Woodbridge at Sayreville game – heard Saturday on Central Jersey Sports Radio – got moved from the Bombers’ home field (with water-logged natural grass) to the drier artificial turf at Woodbridge.

And Spotswood, on Friday, had the play its home game against Metuchen back on the Bulldogs’ home field, which also is made of artificial turf.

Longer-term?  Well, that’s difficult to predict.  Sure, forecasting has gotten better and more accurate over the years, but Robinson says it would be difficult to say if May will be on the drier or wetter side.  Even late April would be difficult to predict.

But the rainy stretch appears behind us, so at least enjoy the next few weeks of warmer, sunnier weather, and take the rest as it comes.

Click below to listen to Mike Pavlichko talk with State Climatologist Dave Robinson: