Ah, the pitfalls of not being a trained meteorologist.

I won't blame the wonderful folks who provide our forecasting service when Dan is away; I'll take the heat instead. Because at least in Central Jersey — I blew it Tuesday.

If you'll recall, I called for mostly cloudy skies and an afternoon shower or thunderstorm in the Garden State less than 24 hours ago. Yet on my ride home late Tuesday morning, through Mercer and Hunterdon counties, it became clear to me that that prediction might have busted. (I don't make 'em, I just write 'em up here, but wires got crossed somewhere.)

From my perspective, the sun was out aplenty in the western-central part of the state, with absolutely bone-dry conditions. That doesn't mean the forecast didn't match up for at least some of you, but to those who were left saying, "What was he thinking?" ... well, I apologize.

That apology goes double for me saying that Wednesday might be the sunniest of the bunch this week, because it looks like Tuesday played the role of Wednesday in this latest weather drama. Wednesday now looks to be primarily cloudy, after fog and drizzle lift in the morning, with that isolated shower or thunderstorm chance returning in the afternoon. Daytime highs will be in the lower to mid-70s.

Overnight, clouds continue, with showers and thunderstorms fully in play by then (hopefully the Yankees won't play in wet conditions this evening — making five errors on a dry field, despite winning the game, was bad enough on Tuesday). Low temperatures are expected in the lower to mid-60s.

On Thursday and Friday, the clouds, showers, and thunderstorms persist. Friday is the warmest of the rainy bunch, as highs steadily climb into the upper 70s Thursday, and then back to the low 80s by the end of the week.

The weekend may yet bring more rain, but we'll wait for a little more clarification on that.

In closing, to paraphrase "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," you may not trust this Patrick Lavery kid with your weather forecast any further than you can throw him ... but with your bad knee, you shouldn't throw anybody.

Meteorologist Dan Zarrow is on vacation and returns Monday, June 4. Patrick Lavery produces "New Jersey's First News" and is New Jersey 101.5's morning drive breaking news reporter.

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