A cold front pushed through the Garden State early Thursday morning, enacting a big cooldown compared to Wednesday's summerlike temperatures.

Temperature records were broken across New Jersey on Wednesday afternoon, as we experienced a (brief) flash of summertime weather. Thermometers peaked at 94 degrees in Newark/Elizabeth, 93 degrees in Trenton/Ewing, and 92 degrees in Atlantic City/Egg Harbor Township.

Then, a cold front started passing over the state Wednesday evening, spawning a strong thunderstorm in North Jersey. Isolated showers and a brisk wind accompanied the frontal passage through the rest of the state. It's been a busy 12 to 24 hours in the weather center!

As of 6 a.m. Thursday, a few raindrops were still falling in far South Jersey and some clouds were still hanging around. By mid-morning Thursday, the rain will be gone, skies will be clear, and winds will be much calmer. And then we resume the perfect blue sky weather from earlier this week. Although, temperatures will be much much cooler.

High temperatures on Thursday afternoon will be limited to the mid 70s for most of New Jersey. As winds become southeasterly (blowing off the ocean), the Jersey Shore will probably be even cooler around 70 degrees. Our one saving grace along the coast, preventing us from getting uncomfortably cool, are the still-warm ocean water temperatures, holding in the mid 70s.

We'll enjoy a delightful, refreshing chill in the air on Friday morning with most lows in the mid to upper 50s. I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple of upper 40s in North Jersey, as we've already seen a couple of times this week.

Friday looks like a carbon copy of Thursday, with sunny skies and inland highs in the mid 70s.

Some changes are ahead for the weekend, as the result of a stronger cold front, increasing moisture, and an incoming shortwave. I think we'll squeeze out a decent Saturday, and it will certainly be the nicer day of the weekend. Clouds will increase steadily as the day progresses, and we could see a shower by late-day Saturday, especially in North Jersey. Highs will be in the seasonable upper 70s to around 80 degrees - again, not a bad day at all.

Skies will become mostly cloudy to overcast on Sunday, and it looks like we'll see a period of rain across the Garden State. In fact, that rain could be heavy or steady at times. GOOD! We really need significant rain to stave off drought, so every drop counts right now.

Earlier in the week, Sunday's rainfall looked to total over an inch. That forecast has since decreased to the 0.3" to 0.9" inch range for the majority of the state. I'm not ruling out heavier amounts, however. Especially as Tropical Storm Julia helplessly spins over the Southeast U.S., potentially opening the tap to some tropical moisture here in Jersey.

Dry weather should resume for Monday and Tuesday next week.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic tropics continue to light up. Tropical Storm Ian is still out-to-sea in the middle of the Atlantic, but increased swell is producing higher waves and an increased rip current risk along the Jersey Shore. Tropical Depression Twelve has come off the coast of Africa - this storm is worth watching, but any U.S. East Coast impact would be at least a week and a half away.

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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