Welcome to Thursday. This will be one of those weather days where you don't need me to tell you how nice it is. You have my permission to close this post right now and go outside. Be sure to take a few minutes to soak in the sun and breath some refreshingly dry air, while it lasts.

High pressure will pass across the northeastern United States between now and the weekend. That dome of sinking air will keep skies clear and dry. It's a cooler, drier air mass too, which is causing dew points and humidity levels to drop across New Jersey.

As of this writing (6 a.m. Thursday) there are a few spotty showers passing through northern New Jersey. As they exit the state by 8 a.m., everyone in the state should clear away to golden sunshine and blue skies by Thursday late morning. Our atmosphere will continue to dry out, with dew points dipping into the 50s during the afternoon. That's going to keep things comfortable and truly refreshing. High temperatures will be limited to the upper 70s to maybe 80 degrees — about 5 degrees below seasonal norms for late August.

You'll really get a taste of the dry air Thursday night, as thermometers dip into the upper 50s to lower 60s. It will be our coolest night in over a month (since July 20th). Skies will be clear and our weather will remain dry. If it gets cool enough, patchy fog ay develop by Friday morning.

Friday will be almost a repeat of Thursday, although perhaps a few degrees warmer. It will be another sunny, dry day with highs in the lower 80s across the board.

And we'll start the weekend with more pleasant, seasonable weather. As the aforementioned dome of high pressure pushes out to sea, the door will be opened for increasing clouds on Saturday. But that's our only hiccup for the first half of the weekend, as high temps hold steady in the lower 80s.

Sunday will be the hotter day of the weekend, as highs return to the above-normal mid-to-upper 80s. Again, we'll see a mix of sun and clouds and a mostly dry day. There's some indication that a weak shortwave, perhaps a backdoor cold front, will come into play late-day. So I've included a rain shower in Sunday evening's forecast, but it's a slight chance at best.

Our next substantial weather pattern change will come early next week, as heat and humidity once again surge into the Garden State. Widespread lower to mid 90s are expected for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday — at least. And, with increasing humidity, we may have to talk about "dangerous" heat with the heat index approaching the triple-digit mark.

So enjoy this breath of refreshing air while it lasts — summer days like this are a rarity!

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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