April showers for another day, then clear sailing ahead

Several of us in the newsroom are big musical theater fans -- myself, Dan, Joe Cutter, Annette Petriccione to name just a few -- and without a doubt, we'd all agree on a theme song for today's forecast: "One Day More" from Les Miserables.

That's because after we get through some rain showers across New Jersey on Tuesday, the Garden State should see clear skies and lots of sunshine for the rest of this week, and potentially through the weekend.

First, let's address the rain. There doesn't seem to be anything more severe than showers in Tuesday's outlook, and even those will end by midday in North Jersey, lingering possibly into the late afternoon in South Jersey. The wind will pick up a bit, and temperatures which reached the mid- to upper 50s in the early morning hours will pretty much stay there for the rest of the day.

Overnight, we'll see some clearing skies and colder air entering the picture -- mid-30s for lows in most of the state but closer to 40 at the Jersey Shore.

That sets us up for a run of simply beautiful weather with no reliable end in sight.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday look to be carbon copies of one another, straight out of central casting for mid-spring. Sunshine will dominate each of these days, with highs stabilizing in the upper 50s to lower 60s.

And while the weekend is still a little far out, the sun appears to be sticking around for both Saturday and Sunday, with a gradual warmup to potentially 70 degrees on Sunday.

Meteorologist Dan Zarrow is on vacation and returns Monday, April 18. Patrick Lavery produces “New Jersey’s First News” and is New Jersey 101.5’s morning drive breaking news reporter.