Big warmup begins for NJ — 60s, 70s, and even 80s on the way

The Bottom Line

All things considered, we are in the middle of another beautiful week of weather. A warming trend begins Tuesday, pushing high temperatures farther and farther above normal as the week goes on. With sunshine, light winds, and almost totally dry weather? Sounds good to me.

Having said that, Tuesday is definitely starting off on the chilly side. It is New Jersey's coldest morning since mid-May. And as expected, it is the first widespread frost of the season (away from cities and the coast). You won't need the heavy jacket for long though, as temps climb into the seasonable 60s by the afternoon.

This time around, the gorgeous conditions will last into the weekend. Saturday will probably be the warmest day of the week, as thermometers flirt with 80 degrees. I am not so sure the warmth will last all weekend though, as our next cold front could drive in rain around the Sunday-Monday time frame.

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Tuesday

Tuesday morning temperatures are starting out just below freezing across the northwest hills, in the 30s across the interior of New Jersey, and in the 40s around cities and coastal areas. It's pretty cold — our coldest morning since May 18th, in fact.

The good news is that we will warm up quickly, starting around mid-morning Tuesday. Temperatures will shoot into the mid 60s by the afternoon. That is a few degrees warmer than Monday, and a hair above seasonal normals for late October.

Sunny skies. Light winds. Dry weather. Once it warms up, simply a beautiful day.

With a hint of humidity coming into play, Tuesday night will be cool but not as cold. Most lows will end up in the 40s. Frost danger will be limited to the usual chilly spots — NW NJ and the Pine Barrens.

Wednesday

There is one little hiccup worth mentioning. A shortwave — a weak storm system — will pass just north of New Jersey from Wednesday into Thursday. That will introduce passing clouds to the forecast. And some forecast models do try to spit a sprinkle toward the Garden State — but I am opting for a dry forecast. (If we do end up seeing some raindrops, they will be very limited.)

Even though sunshine will mix with fair-weather clouds on Wednesday, our warmup continues. We should top out around 70 degrees.

Thursday

Thursday gets even warmer, into the mid 70s. Now we're talking 10+ degrees above normal for this time of year. Skies will be partly sunny. And again, probably dry.

Friday

On Friday, early clouds will give way to abundant sunshine. We will close out the workweek with a continuation of the tranquil, calm, boring, pleasant weather. Highs will be similar to Thursday, in the mid 70s.

Saturday

After seven questionable weekends in a row — especially on Saturdays — what a treat it will be to have a spectacular start to the final weekend of October. It's going to feel more like a typical Labor Day Weekend in early September. Or early June, take your pick.

Highs on Saturday will come close to 80 degrees. We'll probably end up in the 70s to the northwest and along the immediate coast.

Once again, the day looks mostly sunny and dry. I could see some clouds build in late-day. And it might get breezy at times too.

The Extended Forecast

The forecast for Sunday and beyond gets fuzzy. But you know we will cooldown eventually.

In fact, most model guidance favors some rain in the Sunday-Monday time frame, followed by a 20-degree cooldown heading into Tuesday. (That is Halloween, by the way.) The European model stands alone keeping dry, warm weather around into early next week.

So we will see how things play out. I am keeping fingers crossed the forecast stays dry for trick-or-treating next week.

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