The typical warm-cool flip-flop pattern continues for the Garden State, with two more days of warmth followed by a renewed chill by the weekend.

Here are your weather headlines for Wednesday, November 2, 2016...

Warming Trend Continues

There is nothing unusual about the temperamental, flip-flopping behavior of autumn weather. Each successive cold front brings us one step closer to winter. After all, the start of climatological winter is just 29 days away (December 1).

Temperatures are on the upswing now, presenting another pleasant day across New Jersey on Wednesday. Morning lows are comfortably cool, in the upper 40s to lower 50s. Afternoon highs will be warm, especially by early November standards, near 70 degrees. That's about 10 degrees warmer than Tuesday, and about 10 degrees above normal for this time of year. Skies will feature occasional sun and occasional clouds, with a light breeze.

As humidity increases throughout the atmosphere, temperatures for Wednesday night will be quite mild. Lows are forecast to fall only into the upper 50s for Thursday morning, under partly cloudy skies.

So Thursday will start off pretty warm, and end up very warm. Highs will reach the mid to upper 70s, with 80 a definite possibility. But Thursday will be a transition day for the Garden State, and so the forecast isn't all good news...

Cold Front Approaches

As a cold front approaches New Jersey on Thursday, clouds will increase and a brisk wind will pick up (gusting to about 30 mph). Showers and thunderstorms will become likely on Thursday too, and models are in very good agreement regarding the rain timeline:
--2 p.m. to 5 p.m. - First raindrops arrive in northwest NJ between
--5 p.m. to 8 p.m. - Thunderstorms with a band of solid rain will spread south and east
--8 p.m. to 11 p.m. - Rain starts clearing the coast, with drying conditions overnight

Rainfall totals are expected to be in the neighborhood of a half-inch, with locally higher amounts.

Behind the rain, the aforementioned cold front will push much cooler and drier air over the Garden State by Friday morning. Friday's highs will be limited to the mid 50s - a stark difference from near 80 the day before. Winds will decrease and sunshine will increase, but that won't do much to cut through our renewed coolness.

Dry, Cool Weekend

With no major storm systems on the horizon, our weather will stay consistently dry and cool through the upcoming first weekend of November. Morning lows will probably be in the 30s, with a widespread freeze likely for Saturday morning in particular. High temps this weekend will be limited to the lower to mid 50s, with mostly to partly sunny skies. Not terrible, but definitely jacket-and-sweater weather.

The early forecast for Election Day Tuesday looks uneventful - mostly sunny, with highs still in the mid 50s.

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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