Monday will feature mostly sunny skies and high temperatures mostly in the 80s, but rain and thunderstorms return to the forecast soon.

Here are your weather headlines for Monday, June 29, 2015...

Nice Start to the Week

Wow, what a weekend... Especially across the southeast part of the state, where upwards of 4 inches of rain fell in spots on Saturday. Rainfall for the month of June at Atlantic City International Airport is now at almost three times normal month-to-date precipitation for the month (actual=8.36", normal=2.90"). Our other NJ climate sites at Newark and Trenton have also experienced well above normal precipitation for June.

Following this weekend's rain, we were rewarded with blue skies and comfortable temperatures on Sunday afternoon. And we continue the stretch of pleasant weather on Monday, as high temperatures climb to within a few degrees of 80° under mostly sunny skies, low humidity, and light winds. A few spots will likely be limited to the 70s for highs today, including along the Jersey Shore.

Our weather will stay dry for today, tonight, and most of Tuesday.

Becoming Stormy Again

Increasing clouds, humidity, and instability on Tuesday may lend to an isolated shower or storm, although I suspect the daytime hours will be mostly dry. A storm system on Tuesday night will bring most widespread (yet still scattered) showers and thunderstorms. A couple of strong storms with heavy downpours will be possible, but it won't be anything like the big soaking rains from this weekend.

By Wednesday morning, we'll dry out a little bit, but I can't rule out a few more spot showers and storms on Wednesday. Especially since breaks of sun and high humidity could lead to some convective activity Wednesday afternoon. That means we'll be watching the sky for a few strong or even severe storms, with localized heavy rain and gusty winds possible.

Thursday looks to be the wet day of the week, with periods of steady rain looking increasingly likely throughout the day. Again, unlike this weekend, we're not talking about anything heavy here... but even a few hours of steady rain could easily put over an inch in the rain gauge by the time the rain ends early Friday morning.

Early Look at the Holiday Weekend

I'm sure I'm not the only one looking forward to a shortened week and the big upcoming 4th of July holiday weekend! Because of the unsettled weather this week, confidence in making a definitive forecast for the extended weekend will be difficult, but here's what I'm thinking for now...

Following Thursday's drenching, skies look to clear away to partly sunny by Friday afternoon. Thanks to the passage of a weak cold front, temperatures will be cooler and humidity will be lower. For now, I'm thinking Friday's highs will end up in the upper 70s to around 80 degrees.

During the day on Saturday (the 4th), the weather is looking great... Partly sunny skies, highs in the 80° to 85° range, and mostly dry.

The question looms, however... Will the weather stay nice and dry for fireworks time on Saturday? Ehhh... Models are putting some rain over New Jersey in the overnight hours Saturday through Sunday morning. I think most fireworks will go off around 9 p.m. on Saturday... It's going to be a close call. Too close to make a definite wet vs. dry call yet for this extremely important forecast. Stay tuned.

Sunday dries out and warms up, with some spots seeing afternoon temperatures in the mid 80s.

More From WPG Talk Radio 95.5 FM