The Bottom Line

Friday looks pretty good. Friday night turns wet. Saturday will be iffy, especially in South Jersey. (This represents an unfortunate later shift in the departure time of rain, by a few hours.)

But the payoff will come on Sunday, with a return to sunny, dry, warm, not-humid, beautiful weather.

Get our free mobile app

Friday

The abbreviated workweek closes out with some solid summer weather.

We're starting off the day with temperatures in the 60s — that's pretty comfortable for the middle of summer. High temperatures will soar into the mid 80s across most of New Jersey today. The beaches should benefit from a sea breeze, limiting temps to the upper 70s or so.

Skies will average partly sunny. Winds will be light. And humidity levels only moderate.

The only weather nuisance of the day is a very weak disturbance drifting slowly from northern to central NJ. It could be just enough to spark an isolated shower at some point. (That has been the case over Pennsylvania early Friday.) But I really think the majority of the Garden State will stay dry during the Friday daytime hours.

Our next storm system will ride in Friday evening, with first raindrops in New Jersey sometime between 6 p.m. and Midnight. It looks like everyone in the state will get wet from this one. Overnight low temperatures will only dip to around the 70 degree mark.

Saturday

So we start the weekend with rain. That's should not be incredibly surprising — July is, on average, our wettest month of the year.

I don't see anything extreme here. Just wet. There could be some rumbles of thunder and big puddles, but the severe weather risk is low. Total rainfall for most, outside of a localized downpour, will be between a half-inch and an inch.

For the northern half of New Jersey — approximately north of Interstate 195 — I'm still confident the rain will clear out by the midday / lunchtime hours.

However, for southern New Jersey, rain showers may linger through part of Saturday afternoon.

Skies will be pretty cloudy for the duration, although I do expect at least partial clearing late-day. High temperatures will be held down because of the raindrops and cloud cover, limited to the mid 70s at best. (Parts of soggy South Jersey may not get out of the lower 70s.)

Sunday

Easily the nicer day of the weekend.

Skies will turn mostly sunny, although some clouds may linger to the south and east early on. Sunday will be a rain-free day. And not only will it be warm, but humidity levels will drop away. Making for yet another comfortable summer day. Look for high temperatures around 80.

Monday

We'll keep the sunshine and dry air for one more day. Monday will be a few degrees warmer than Sunday, with high temps reaching into the seasonable mid 80s. Very nice.

The Extended Forecast

Heat surges through the middle of next week. My latest forecast has widespread 90s (away from the coast) for both Tuesday and Wednesday. Either day could feature some spotty strong thunderstorms.

A cold front should knock temperatures back into the near-normal 80s by Thursday.

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

Beautiful sunflower fields to visit in NJ 2022

Among reasons why the “Garden State” remains a fitting nickname for New Jersey — late summer means the arrival of sunflower season.

There are at least six fields, spanning the state. Some are in bloom as of early August, while others are planned to peak from late August to late September.

Calling or emailing before heading out is always advisable if weather appears to be an issue. 

This Garden is a New Jersey hidden gem

More From 105.7 The Hawk