Thursday NJ weather: Sunny, breezy, cool, and dry

The Bottom Line

Wednesday's cold front delivered showers, wind, and some of the coolest and driest air of the season so far. We have more generally pleasant weather days ahead. But our next rain chance will come at the tail-end of the weekend, as we get soaked by Hurricane Delta's remnants.

Thursday

It will be bright and sunny.

It will be dry. Dew points will descend into the 30s.

It will be breezy too. Wednesday's top wind gust in New Jersey was 52 mph at High Point, Sussex County. Gusts Thursday will be in the neighborhood of 20 mph. Keeping our newly refreshed cool air moving around, for sure.

And it will be cool. The breeze has kept the air stirred up so far, so early morning temperatures haven't been able to settle too cold. Mainly in the lower 50s to start Thursday. And we'll see lower to mid 60s Thursday afternoon. That is about 10 degrees cooler than Wednesday, and about 5 degrees below normal for early October. Combined with the breeze, you might have cause to wear a light jacket or at least long sleeves through Thursday afternoon.

Thursday night will bring a return to the cold zone. Most low temperatures across the state will dip into the mid to upper 40s. And I think upper 30s are possible in NW NJ, cold enough for some patchy frost by Friday morning.

Friday

A nice early October day. Expect mostly sunny skies once again, with highs in the upper 60s. Clouds will start to fill-in around dinnertime.

Saturday

Thermometers soar into the upper 70s, with a hint of humidity returning to the air. There will be periods of sunshine (mainly north) and clouds (mainly south). And I'm keeping a dry forecast for Saturday — although the same can't be said for the rest of the weekend.

Sunday

The main weathermaker in this forecast will be the remnants of Hurricane Delta. The storm will slam into the Louisiana coast on Friday, before sending rain to New Jersey early next week.

Wet weather is practically a guarantee. But the timing continues to shift.

Since we last spoke on Wednesday, the rain timeline has shifted a bit later. Most of the daytime hours on Sunday now look dry. Skies will be mostly cloudy to overcast, pushing high temperature down to the lower 70s.

First raindrops now look to arrive in New Jersey somewhere between Sunday late afternoon and early evening. (Let's say between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.)

Monday

The potential is here for a real soaker — playing the "never underestimate tropical moisture" game. Guidance suggests anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of total rainfall will be possible between Sunday and Tuesday. The heaviest rain looks to sweep through NJ around Monday morning. There could be some flash flooding concerns — we'll pinpoint those impacts a bit more once the storm makes landfall.

The Extended Forecast

Tuesday could be sporadically wet too, as leftover Delta showers interact with an approaching cold front. We'll stay on the warm and humid side for one more day.

Our next cooldown and clear-out is progged to arrive Wednesday. That will likely result in below-normal temperatures through the second half of next week. And I have a feeling it'll get so cool that we'll be looking for a widespread frost potential by next weekend (7 to 10 days away).

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