I've been calling Thursday the weather winner of the week and the real shining star of this week's forecast. But it's hard to call it perfect, because of a familiar weather nuisance — wind.

On Wednesday morning, we were talking about a storm system just off the coast. And as of Thursday morning, it's still out there, centered several hundred miles east of the Jersey Shore. That area of low pressure will have two impacts on New Jersey's weather: Thursday's wind and Friday showers.

We're starting off your Thursday with temperatures averaging upper 30s across the Garden State. Highs will reach the mid 50s Thursday afternoon, par for the course for the second day of April. It will be mostly sunny and dry — looking nice, but feeling a bit blustery with wind gusts to 30 mph. Wear a jacket and get outside for some sunshine — you deserve it!

Clouds will start to push back in around 5 p.m. Thursday evening, and I can't rule out a shower or sprinkle creeping into NE NJ during the evening hours too. The better chance for widespread light rain will arrive early Friday morning, likely just before daybreak. It will still be breezy overnight, with a low temperature dipping into the lower 40s.

So Friday morning looks pretty wet, with a few hours of rain showers expected. Lingering raindrops, cloudy skies, and breezy conditions will persist through Friday afternoon. I expect high temps to dip slightly, into the lower 50s.

The weekend is looking a bit better, although sunshine will limited and I can't completely rule out a few raindrops.

Saturday will probably stay dry, with high temperatures bumping back into the seasonable mid 50s. Mostly cloudy skies will still allow for a few peeks of sun along the way.

On Sunday, thermometers will warm to about 60 degrees. But again, there will be lots of clouds overhead. And maybe a sprinkle too.

The warming trend will continue through early next week. We'll likely see widespread 60s away from the coast on Monday, alongside partly sunny skies and some late-day showers. Tuesday could be the warmest day of the next week, with 70s a good possibility for interior South Jersey at least.

Our next potential washout day will be Wednesday. Our next day of brilliant sunshine won't be until late next week.

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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