The heat wave is over, and the Garden State will enjoy about 36 hours of pleasant conditions before unsettled weather returns by the weekend.

Here are your weather headlines for Thursday, August 18, 2016...

Fairly Quiet Thursday and Friday

Early Thursday morning, some heavy rain and noisy thunderstorms moved through the Garden State. All providing healthy rainfall and a cooling effect.

And so it's a damp start to your Thursday, with scattered showers potentially continuing through about 10 a.m. Beyond that, skies will clear rapidly through the afternoon. High temperatures will be in the mid 80s statewide Thursday. That means our heat wave has come to an end - it's our second streak of 8 days in a row of 90+ degree temperatures.

While I can't rule out a popup shower or thunderstorm this afternoon and evening, it should be isolated (if anything pops up at all).

Friday looks like a nice summer day, with morning lowers in the upper 60s to around 70 degrees and afternoon highs close to 90 degrees.

Somewhat Unsettled Weekend

Unfortunately, it's not going to be the kind of weekend where you want to plop down a chair on the beach from Saturday morning through Sunday night. But it also will not get horrendously hot and humid, like last weekend. Nor will the weekend be a complete washout.

Scattered showers and thunderstorms return to the forecast on Saturday. The models show a potentially wet solution at any time from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday. Again, it's not going to rain all day, but it might be damp at times. In between the raindrops, skies should average partly sunny. Highs will be in the mid 80s, with noticeable humidity.

As a southeasterly wind kicks higher on Sunday, I think clouds will thicken up, especially along the coast. High temperatures should be in the seasonable mid 80s. Rain will be possible once again for Sunday, especially very early and late in the day.

The Great Humidity Nosedive

Sunday's late-day rain is the first symptom of an approaching cold front. That front is going to bring a big pattern change through the middle of next week.

A period of steady rain is possible from late Sunday through early Monday, ahead of the aforementioned front. Then, behind the front? Cooler and MUCH drier air, which you'll start to feel by Monday afternoon. Dew points will drop from the steamy 70s to around 50 - that's a big and most welcome change!

The end result will be clear skies, cool mornings, and pleasant afternoons starting Tuesday. Highs will be around 80 degrees, making it feel more like late September than late August!

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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