Clouds and showers again today, big changes by the weekend

After a brief respite from the gloomy weather yesterday, rain and thick clouds return today.

Here are your weather headlines for Thursday, June 4, 2015...

Showers & Clouds Again

High pressure to the north of us... A stalled front to the south... And here I am, stuck in the middle with you!

It's going to be another fairly unsettled, dreary, cool day across New Jersey. We did see some breaks of blue sky and hints of sunshine in North Jersey yesterday, helping temperatures warm up to about the 70° mark. South Jersey, meanwhile, was still mired in clouds and cool temperatures around 60°.

Today, clouds will thicken up again for just about everyone in the state, and we'll have to deal with some showers pushing northward. The best chance for raindrops will be in the southern half of New Jersey (below I-195), but the entire state is prone to see a sprinkle or shower at some point. Certainly nothing heavy - in fact, the latest short-range models show a pretty dry day across the state.

Meanwhile, the clouds, the showers, and a stiff easterly breeze will keep temperatures cool. Highs this afternoon should be limited to the lower to mid 60s... about 15° below normal for early June. Blech.

Weekend Clearing

A cold front moves through New Jersey as we head into the weekend, thoroughly clearing out our skies and eventually ending our rain chances. Yesterday, I gave an optimistic forecast for Friday with sunshine and temperatures in the mid 70s. I'm now a bit worried about clouds and even a shower hanging around a bit longer than expected, so I've lowered high temperatures to around 70° for tomorrow. The best chance for showers tomorrow will be in South Jersey and along the coast. Overall, Friday should still be a mostly pleasant day, but I may have been a little too aggressive with the warmer temperatures previously.

Saturday morning will bring one more shower and sprinkle chance, and then we'll have a nice, comfortable weekend ahead. I mentioned a cold front... winds on Saturday will be northerly and we'll be under the influence of that cooler air. But we're expecting a nice warmup, to near 80 degrees! Why? Sunshine! Clear skies will make all the difference this weekend, as solar radiation warms us up quickly to near-normal levels on Saturday.

Sunday, the cool air will win out a bit more, and we'll have a few extra clouds as well. So Sunday's temperatures will be a bit lower, but still in the lower 70s. But it should still a really nice day to close out the weekend, with plenty of sunshine.

As usual, the Jersey Shore will be a bit cooler throughout this weekend, likely in the 60s for part of the coast both days. Still pleasant, but maybe a bit too cool to jump in the surf; ocean temperatures are holding steady in the upper 50s to lower 60s.

The "Son" Will Come Out... Tomorrow!

And finally today, a happy piece of personal news to share... My wife Amy and I are very excited to announce that we're going to become parents tomorrow! (We scheduled a Cesarean section because Baby Boy Zarrow is expected to be very big - close to 10 pounds - and therefore, we decided the safest delivery would be via C-section.) Thank you to all for your words of kindness and your positive thoughts since we announced Amy's pregnancy - I can't possibly express how much that means to both us and our family.

So don't worry when you don't hear my voice on the radio tomorrow, and for a while thereafter... I'm just spending some time getting to know our newest little family member!

We will keep you updated here on the web and on Facebook, including a photo and a name, shortly after our bundle of sunshine arrives!