Nice weather Thursday, then humidity and rain return to NJ

Steamy, unsettled weather will carry only through the first half of the first weekend of Summer.

Here are your weather headlines for Thursday, June 22, 2017...

Pleasant Thursday

For the second time this week, a round of ferocious storms charged across the Garden State on Wednesday. Burlington, Camden, Gloucester, Ocean, and Atlantic counties were smacked particularly hard, with torrential rain and 50+ mph wind gusts. There were numerous reports of flash flooding and trees down during the height of this summer storm.

The heavy rain is long gone now. We are left with a few very isolated showers along New Jersey's southern coast Thursday morning, along with patches of fog. No big impacts to your day are expected, as these issues resolve themselves by mid-morning.

The rest of Thursday looks quite nice, with a mix of sun and clouds. (Sun will probably win out for most of the state, except for the coast.) High temperatures will end up well into the 80s once again for most of New Jersey.

Along the Jersey Shore, I'm optimistic that the sea breeze machine will kick in Thursday, keeping the beaches a bit cooler than further inland. Even more good news for beach-goers: The rip current risk has been downgraded to "low" and surf will be light.

The Horrendous Humidity Returns

By Thursday evening, you'll notice a change in the air. Yes, that horrendous summertime humidity is about to come roaring back.

Due to the increase in atmospheric moisture, overnight low temperatures will only fall to around 70 degrees. Yuck. Clouds will increase, and there could be a shower or two. (Note: The high-resolution HRRR model depicts a cluster of thunderstorms approaching NJ Thursday evening around 9 p.m. Chances are low, but worth noting.)

Friday will start sticky and end steam, with highs again somewhere in the 80s. Scattered showers and thunderstorms will be possible at any time.

Saturday: Wet or Very Wet?

Our weather will remain warm and muggy on Saturday, with high temperatures above 80 degrees for the seventh day in a row. In addition, the first weekend of Summer will start unsettled and wet.

An approaching cold front will cause a period of rain around New Jersey Saturday morning through early afternoon (at least). In addition, we're tracking now-Tropical Storm Cindy, which made landfall along the Texas-Louisiana border early Thursday moisture. Cindy's tropical moisture will get caught up in the jet stream and head our way, arriving late Friday or early Saturday. That moisture will lead to an overall increase in cloud cover, humidity, and rainfall intensity.

But that's it. We are not "getting hit by a tropical storm" here. The remains of Cindy will simply inject extra moisture into an already wet period for the Garden State.

Hopefully we'll see skies begin to brighten and clear by late Saturday afternoon.

Sunday: Sunny and Dry

By Sunday, our new air mass will arrive — a large area of high pressure that will last for several days. This dome of sinking air will bring a transition to mostly sunny skies, almost exclusively dry weather, a dramatic decrease in humidity levels, and a bit of a cooldown.

We should settle in the upper 70s to around 80 degrees by Sunday afternoon. Below normal for late June, but still quite pleasant (especially given the abundant sunshine).

With the exception of an early morning shower on Tuesday, the comfortably dry and sunny weather will continue next week with highs in the upper 70s.

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