Scattered showers persist in the forecast for the Garden State for the next several days, with plentiful clouds and below-normal temperatures.

Here are your weather headlines for Tuesday, May 3, 2016...

Tuesday: Steady Rain Ends

It's a soggy start to your Tuesday across most of New Jersey. The rain that moved into the state overnight has been steady so far, but not too heavy. According to the NJ Weather and Climate Network, rainfall totals averaged around a half-inch by 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Periods of rain are likely to continue for much of Tuesday morning, before the rain moves off-shore by midday. Clouds will part a little bit through Tuesday afternoon, and we might (might) see some sun breaking through. The combination of the wet weather, thick clouds, and a northeasterly wind will keep temperatures on the cool side yet again Tuesday. Forecast highs are in the upper 50s to lower 60s - still upwards of 10 degrees below normal for early May.

Wednesday: Mostly Dry

We'll enter a relatively dry period from Tuesday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon, with just isolated showers possible. Some fog may develop for Wednesday morning too. Otherwise, Wednesday will be mostly cloudy with highs still right around 60.

Thursday/Friday: Showers Again

Rain chances increase again for Thursday and Friday, with scattered showers possible at any time. I'm not seeing any appreciable instability in the models, so I'm keeping any mention of thunder and lightning out of the forecast for now. We'll close out the workweek with abundant cloud cover and highs in the lower 60s at best.

Weekend: Marked Improvements

Some welcome changes are ahead for the weekend. Saturday could start with a few showers and continuing mostly cloudy skies. However, I expect some solid breaks of sun by Saturday afternoon. That will help to warm us up, with highs in the seasonable mid to upper 60s. We may even hit 70 degrees on Saturday, if the sun pops out for a long enough period.

Early Sunday morning, a cold front is forecast to move through the Garden State. Yes, that front will present a chance for rain showers, for the umpteenth day in a row. More importantly, the new air mass will sweep OUT all the rain and clouds. Most importantly, the front will switch our wind direction from easterly to northwesterly. That continental land breeze will replace the on-shore flow, and means drier air will intrude all levels of the atmosphere. That will lead to sunnier skies and warmer temperatures. (Ironic, since it's technically a cold front.)

Sunday's highs should pop above 70 degrees for all but far northern New Jersey and the Jersey Shore. It might get a bit windy on Sunday, up to about 25 mph.

The warm, dry, breezy weather looks to continue for Monday with most highs bumping even further into the 70s.

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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