A few showers and storms Friday – more rain for Mother’s Day

Our unsettled weather forecast rolls right along. It's a complicated forecast too. If you've followed the "play by play" in my weather blog this week, you may have noticed I've flip-flopped a bit for Sunday in particular. There are still some question marks about the Mother's Day holiday — but the bottom line is that it's going to be at least partially wet, cloudy, and quite cool.

I hate to say it, but Friday could be our warmest day in over a week! A southwesterly breeze will carry fairly warm and very humid air into New Jersey. That will help to fuel a few showers and thunderstorms, forming from a stationary boundary in the neighborhood. There will probably be about 3 rounds of rain pushing through the Garden State Friday. It will feel unsettled, even though the scattered areas of rain will be few and far between. While localized downpours are possible (if not likely), widespread severe weather is unlikely.

In between raindrops, you'll find mostly cloudy skies and high temperatures in the above-normal lower to mid 70s.

The chance for scattered showers and thunderstorms will fade by Midnight Friday night. For the rest of the overnight, we'll see partial clearing and we'll feel comfortable coolness. Low temperatures should dip into the also-above-normal mid 50s.

Saturday is going to be the better day of the weekend, although I'm not 100% convinced the entire state stays dry. Models are suggesting a block of showers may drift into far southern NJ at some point. For most of the Garden State, we'll enjoy a mix of sun and clouds and mild temperatures topping out near 70 degrees.

It looks like more widespread rain will spread north Saturday night. And then along comes Sunday.

There remains a wet and a dry solution on the table for Mother's Day Sunday. The former involves an inch or two of periodic steady rain throughout the day. The latter would still bring scattered showers, especially early and late. No matter which option plays out, it's not going to be a pretty day.

That is especially true as skies will remain overcast and temperatures will end up quite cool. Thermometers will struggle to make it out of the 50s all day — that's at least 10 degrees below normal for mid-May.

Monday's forecast is very similar — wet, cloudy and cool. Highs only in the mid 50s — that's closer to normal low temps around this time of the year.

Conditions will start to improve on Tuesday, although lingering showers are still possible. Temps should pop into the 60s.

And then Wednesday looks lovely, with sunshine and 70. Something to look forward to!

Whether you're gifting your mother an umbrella, flowers, a delicious breakfast, or a long-distance phone call this weekend, I hope you make the best of this less-than-ideal weather!

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