A cold front passes through New Jersey early this morning, bringing rain, wind, and somewhat colder temperatures to the forecast.

Here are your weather headlines for Tuesday, December 15, 2015...

Cooler Temps... but not by much...

Monday was another day of absurdly warm temperatures, as we broke records at all three climate sites in the state: Newark, Trenton, and Atlantic City. You'll just have to take my word that a cold front pushed through New Jersey early this morning. The "cold" front moniker won't really apply to Tuesday's temperatures, as we end up way above mid-December normals for yet another day.

Temperatures this morning were hovering around 60 degrees, and that's where thermometers should finish this afternoon too. (I can't call them "high temperatures" though, since our Tuesday calendar day high probably occurred at very early this morning.) Normal highs are still in the mid 40s, so we're still 15 to 20 degrees above... But I think record highs (67 at Newark, 66 at Trenton and Atlanticy City) will remain safe today.

The biggest weather impact for Tuesday will be a persistent gusty wind out of the west, up to 30 or even 40 mph. Blustery conditions will probably contribute to a cooler feeling today than the past few days, even though we'll see some 60s again.

That fierce wind dies down for Wednesday, and we'll enjoy mostly to partly sunny skies. It should be a nice day overall, even as temperatures take another step downward to the lower to mid 50s.

A Washout Day

Another cold front will approach on Thursday, bringing a prolonged chance of rain to the Garden State. The rain looks to start by 10 a.m. on Thursday, and last through at least late Thursday evening. Pockets of very heavy rain are modeled for Thursday afternoon and evening. Overall rainfall totals are expected to end up between 0.4" and 1.5", depending on where the heaviest downpours set up.

Thursday will remain on the warm side amidst the raindrops, especially along New Jersey's southern coast, as a finger of warm air creeps up ahead of the impending front. Highs will range from the mid 50s in North Jersey to the lower 60s in South Jersey.

The December Chill

Thursday's cold front will be the one that finally brings truly "cold" December-ish air to New Jersey. While someone in the state will see 60+ degrees on Thursday, Friday's highs will be limited to the lower 50s at best.

Things get even colder as the weekend arrives. Highs for both Saturday and Sunday will barely reach the lower 40s. A stiff westerly breeze will probably push wind chills even colder!

But will these cold, below-normal temperatures stick? Nope! Models show another warmup for next week, back into the 50s at least.

The long-range forecast (also known as the "take it with a grain of salt forecast") has a storm system moving into the Northeast U.S. around Christmas Eve... But you'll have better luck dreaming for a "wet" Christmas than a "white" Christmas, with these consistently warm temperatures continuing.

Dan Zarrow is the 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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