Very cold for NJ Thursday, then a slow warmup through Christmas

This weather blog post will be short, for two reasons:
1.) I don't have much to talk about. #QuietWeather
2.) This is my last day of work before a 6-day Christmas holiday. #CheckedOut

As you probably know, it is frigid! But let me give you two pieces of good weather news:
1.) Thursday will be the coldest day of the week, by far.
2.) I don't see any significant weather in the forecast until after Christmas next week.

Temperatures on this Thursday morning are mainly in the teens. Thanks to a bitter breeze gusting to 30 mph, the wind chill (or "feels like" or "apparent" temperature) has fallen into the single digits across most of New Jersey. Unpleasant and pretty painful. Not quite "dangerous" cold, but it's close. (That's generally when the wind chill falls below zero.) Grab the heavy winter gear and bundle up!

Winds will calm somewhat by Thursday afternoon, with gusts closer to 20 mph. High temperatures will only reach about 25 to 30 degrees — below freezing, and about 15 degrees below-normal for mid-December. The wind chill will be no higher than the teens all day.

Thursday night will be cold too, as lows dip to around 20 degrees. A few clouds will pass by overhead.

Bright sunshine returns Friday. Winds will be considerably lighter, but it will still be unseasonably cold. High temperatures will pop just above freezing, into the mid 30s.

A storm system will pass way south of New Jersey on Saturday. Too far away for direct or significant impacts. But close enough to draw lots of clouds and a few sprinkles/flurries into the Garden State. Thermometers will continue slowly warming, with high temps in the upper 30s to lower 40s.

Sunday's forecast looks pretty good. Mixed periods of sunshine and clouds will meet temperatures in the mid to upper 40s. Those temperatures are above-normal for late December.

A weak cold front will push temperatures downward slightly on Monday. Highs will still be in the 40s, under mostly sunny skies.

Tuesday is Christmas Eve, and we're looking at increasing clouds and increasing temperatures. Highs will make it to the upper 40s to lower 50s. More typical of Thanksgiving time than Christmas time.

And widespread 50s are possible for Wednesday, Christmas Day. At the moment, our forecast calls for only mostly cloudy skies. In general, if you're hoping for a White Christmas, you are out of luck once again this year. However, the Euro model is painting some snow showers barely clipping far North Jersey Wednesday night. Worth watching, in case we see a few flakes of magical Christmas snow after all.

Our next substantial storm system is modeled to arrive next Friday night through next Saturday morning. At 8 days out, it's not even a sure bet this system will even impact New Jersey. Just something to watch — our atmosphere can't stay quiet forever.

And that's it! I don't like taking vacation time leading up to a holiday, since the forecast is so critical for traveling and holiday plans. But our weather looks great, whether you're going by land, air, or sea. I think you can do without me for the next six days! (Of course, if anything hazardous or unexpected pops up, you'll be among the first to know.)

I hope you and your family have a warm and wonderful holiday. See you on the 26th!

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