Rain will exit the Garden State Tuesday morning, with limited sunshine expected by the afternoon.

Well, I promised you Monday would be a wet day, and Mother Nature delivered! Cumberland County was the overall winner (or loser, depending on your perspective) with areas of 4+ inches of rain. The driest part of the state was surprisingly the northern half of the Jersey Shore, with only a quarter-inch or rainfall.

As of Tuesday morning, our storm system is moving out to sea. As of this writing (6 a.m.) we still have an area of light rain over Cape May County, a few showers and sprinkles over the rest of the state, and some light fog too.

NAM model cloud cover forecast as of Tuesday evening, showing clear skies to the northwest and thick clouds to the southeast. (College of DuPage Meteorology)
NAM model cloud cover forecast as of Tuesday evening, showing clear skies to the northwest and thick clouds to the southeast. (College of DuPage Meteorology)
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A drying trend will continue through midday Tuesday, with rain ending by Noon at the very latest. Skies will partially clear Tuesday afternoon. But don't expect much sunshine, unless you live in the northwest corner of New Jersey. Clouds will continue to win the sky for most of the state. If you do see sun, the thermometer should spike over 80 degrees. If not, temps will be limited to the below-normal upper 70s.

Skies will continue to clear for everyone in the state Tuesday night, and everyone should see stars by Wednesday morning. The open sky, along with an influx of drier air, will allow overnight low temperatures to fall into the upper 50s in the coolest parts of the state. Even lower 60s will be comfortably cool.

Wednesday looks to take the prize for weather winner of the week. Solid sunshine and light winds will accompany almost-seasonable high temperatures in the lower to mid 80s. The Jersey Shore looks beautiful, with highs in the mid to upper 70s.

A weak coastal storm system will make a close pass to the Jersey Shore early Thursday morning. Impacts here will range from absolutely nothing to a shower and thicker clouds along the coast. (I'm currently leaning toward the latter.) The rest of Thursday looks partly sunny. High temperatures will range from the upper 70s along the coast, to mid 80s further inland.

Friday looks OK. (I'm unable to get any more enthusiastic than that.) Skies will be partly to mostly cloudy and temperatures will be August-like in the 80s.

Another period of unsettled weather takes over our atmosphere. And the timing stinks because showers and thunderstorms re-enter the forecast just in time for... The weekend. Sigh.

It's still 4 to 5 days away, so I don't want to talk details just yet. But I think we're going to have to include a prolonged period of scattered showers and thunderstorms in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. Keep your outdoor plans flexible.

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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