N.J. weather: Record highs could be broken as June heat wave ramps up

The intense heat wave that has pestered New Jersey during the past five days has made a lot of people miserable and drenched with sweat, but it hasn’t broken any records — not yet, at least.

Even though the temperature soared to 97 degrees at Newark Liberty International Airport on Thursday, the first official day of summer, it wasn’t hot enough to match or top the daily record high of 98 degrees for June 20, set in 2012.

Newark hit 100 degrees Friday afternoon, tying its record high for June 21 but not beating it.

With the heat wave ramping up this weekend, New Jersey has a shot at seeing some records being shattered, according to the latest temperature projections by the National Weather Service.

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As of now, Sunday is shaping up to be the best opportunity for record highs to be matched or surpassed at each of the weather service’s three main weather reporting stations in the Garden State — Newark, Trenton and Atlantic City.

Here’s a closer look at the current records and forecast highs for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Worth noting: Even if no new records are set, afternoon temperatures are expected to run more than 10 degrees hotter than normal for late June, and high humidity levels will make it feel even worse outside. The heat could be briefly broken by some rain showers or thunderstorms in northern New Jersey Friday afternoon and Friday evening, but most of the state is expected to stay hot and dry.