Humidity levels will creep upward this weekend, leading to warmer mornings and stickier afternoons.

Bottom line of this forecast... The weekend looks great! However, increasing temperatures, humidity, and clouds will make it feel much more summerlike than the past few days.

This morning's low temperatures really bottomed out, thanks to the continuation of bone-dry air... A few upper 40s popped up on the temperature map in the northern half of the state! Not to worry though, as temperatures will warm up nicely today with plenty of sunshine. High temperatures will range from about 79° to 85° across inland New Jersey, while coastal areas stay in the mid to upper 70s. All-in-all, another beautiful day to close out an overall pleasant workweek of weather.

A warmer and more humid air mass creeps over New Jersey this weekend. That will push high temperatures into the mid 80s on Saturday, and the upper 80s to about 90° on Sunday. Dew points in the 60s will cause it to feel somewhat sticky during the heat of the day. There will be scattered clouds throughout the weekend, along with frequent breaks of sunshine. The only real wrinkle for this weekend's forecast is a chance for showers late on Sunday, mainly in North Jersey. No big atmospheric forcing is expected here, so the rain shouldn't be a big deal.

Early next week will be all about heat and humidity, and I suspect another "heat wave" is on the horizon for parts of the state. Afternoon high temperatures for much of the week will hover right around 90°. Humidity levels won't be "oppressive" or "dangerous", but it could get somewhat uncomfortable during the midst of the heat.

The forecast for next week, however, hinges heavily on the track of Tropical Storm Erika, which brought tropical rainfall and tremendous flooding to the island of Dominica yesterday. As of this writing, the center of Erika is just southwest of Puerto Rico. Since yesterday, the forecast storm track has taken a jog to the south and west, and is expected to pass along the southern edge of the Bahamas through the weekend. Florida will be in Erika's crosshairs by early Monday morning. Another significant change, according to the latest National Hurricane Center outlook, does not intensify Erika into a hurricane.

It is still way too early to tell what (if any) impacts Erika (or the remnants thereof) will have on New Jersey. The timing of such impacts would be late next week into the Labor Day Weekend. So it is obviously a critical forecast, and we'll continue to watch it carefully through the weekend.

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