The Bottom Line

Welcome back to the cool side, New Jersey. After a week of seasonable-or-better temperatures, culminating in a few spots hitting 80 degrees on Tuesday, we now enter a much chillier air mass. For the next two or three days, temperatures will run about 10 degrees below seasonal normals. With highs only in the 50s, it is indeed going to feel more like late March than late April.

The other big weather nuisance will be wind, blowing in the "breezy" to "gusty" range for the duration.

At least we'll have two or three days of golden sunshine, and completely dry weather. In fact, if all goes well, the weekend should turn out to be a real winner. Our next substantial chance of rain is five days away, on or about Monday of next week.

Wednesday

Cool and breezy. As of this writing (6 a.m.), temperatures are dipping from the 50s into the 40s. Enough of a chill in the air to grab a jacket.

And you'll still want the jacket Wednesday afternoon too, with highs only reaching the mid 50s. (North Jersey may not get out of the 40s all day.) Winds will be out of the northwest, sustained around 15 to 25 mph for most of the day.

Early sunshine will lead to building clouds through the afternoon. And some model guidance paints some showers and sprinkles — just a few brief, isolated spurts of rain.

Wednesday night's low temperatures are forecast to drop into the lower to mid 30s. It's still going to be breezy too — that actually works in our favor, keeping the air mixed up, and preventing temps from crashing into the 20s.

So we're back into frost/freeze territory through Thursday morning, at least away from coastal and urban areas. Frost and freeze alerts are only problems for farmers, gardeners, etc. — some plants really don't like such cold temperatures, even for just a few overnight hours.

Thursday

Still cool. And even windier.

Those northwest gusts could top 30 mph at times on Thursday, adding an extra blustery characteristic to the day. At least we'll have lots of sunshine, and a completely dry day. My high temperature forecast for Thursday is about a degree or two higher than Wednesday's, still in the mid 50s.

Another frost/freeze is likely Thursday night into Friday morning.

Friday

Better, as winds lighten up and a warmup kicks in.

Wind speeds should decrease to the "breezy" category on Friday, around 10 to 20 mph (still out of the northwest). Sunny skies should help push high temperatures to around 60 degrees.

Sounds great. And it is. But still below normal highs for this time of year (mid 60s).

The Weekend & Beyond

Sunshine and lower 60s on Saturday. Increasing clouds and upper 60s on Sunday, the first of May. Light winds. Dry weather. Sounds great to me!

I only have one very minor concern for the weekend: is a weak impulse currently forecast to arrive early Monday morning. If that timing edges just a bit earlier, we could see raindrops encroach on Sunday evening.

That is the first of several storm systems lined up next week, leading to a generally unsettled week. But it does look warm, with temperatures mainly in the 70s.

Dan Zarrow is Chief Meteorologist for Townsquare Media New Jersey. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter for the latest forecast and realtime weather updates.

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