The Bottom Line

There is a "river of rain" hanging out just 25 miles southeast of New Jersey. That stalled frontal boundary serves as a "highway" for storm systems to ride along. It looks like Wednesday's impulse will be slightly bigger, stronger, and closer than those that passed by on Tuesday. That will lead to an increased chance of damp weather along the coast.

But things are looking much brighter in the coming days, with beautiful sunshine breaking out late Thursday into Friday.

We are watching a rain chance for Saturday. And then the heat is on, with a looooong stretch of 90s and 100s kicking off on Sunday.

Wednesday

The vast majority of New Jerseyans saw cloudy skies but dry weather on Tuesday. It was a pretty nice day, especially with those comfortable temperatures barely reaching 80 degrees. And capped off by a spectacular sunset!

Wednesday's forecast is almost a complete copy-and-paste of Tuesday's weather map. But I think this time around, we'll end up a bit greyer and a bit wetter - especially along the coastline.

The best chance of rain will once again fall over southern and coastal New Jersey, starting around midday Wednesday. Even if raindrops do creep into your neighborhood, they'll be fairly light - rainfall totals will be no more than a tenth of an inch.

If you are far enough inland to avoid the showers, abundant cloud cover will keep temperatures down. Highs will only reach about 75 to 80 degrees - that is about 5 to 10 degrees below normal for early August.

Dew points will creep upward slightly Wednesday too, into the 60s. You might notice some stickiness in the air through the rest of the week. Not steamy (yet). Overnight temperatures will end up a few degrees warmer as a result too.

The chance of a shower or even a thunderstorm will continue for the eastern edge of New Jersey Wednesday night. Low temperatures will dip into the comfortable lower to mid 60s, under mostly cloudy skies.

Thursday

Our previous forecast suggested one more day of rain. And the NAM model stands alone in pushing through one more batch of showers Thursday morning. While I'm not totally discounting that early wet weather, I think it's fair to say Thursday will feature big improvements. It will turn into a very nice day.

As that stalled front shifts to the east, skies will clear into Thursday afternoon. That will allow temperatures to warm to about 80 degrees (give or take).

Friday

A return to summery conditions, after an extended stretch of (generally) below-normal temps. Highs on Friday will push to the 85 to 90 degree range. It will be mostly sunny and dry. Very warm, but very nice.

Saturday

I'm a little concerned that the GFS model is now painting a period of rain over New Jersey for Saturday midday. The Euro is still dry, keeping that batch of rain to our south. We'll see how that develops. My current forecast puts Saturday's highs in the seasonable mid 80s.

Sunday & Beyond

90s return to non-coastal New Jersey on Sunday. And hot temperatures are going to be around for a while. Our next heat wave will last at least 5 or 6 days. Although some longer-range models show 90s and even 100s lasting through next next week too. Two weeks of heat and humidity? Blech.

Although I guess it's about time for August to feel like August. After all, we have enjoyed so many beautiful, dry weather days lately.

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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