The weather week ahead: unsettled to start, nicer later

An unsettled weather pattern, featuring humidity and the threat of showers and thunderstorms, is here through Tuesday night, but Wednesday through Sunday look drier and cooler. But let’s focus on the workweek now and deal with the weekend later.

For today, a mixture of sun and clouds, with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. As indicated in this radar image from 10:20 a.m. today, showers and an embedded thunderstorm are moving through Monmouth County, and another small cell is heading into Gloucester County. Highs in the low 80s at the coast, mid 80s inland. Light and variable winds this morning, becoming south during the afternoon.

Tomorrow is more unstable, with the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center forecasting a slight risk of severe thunderstorms for most of the state. But the extent of severe weather is dependent on the amount of heating during the day, so with heavy cloud cover, only limited pockets of strong or severe storms are expected, according to the National Weather Service-Mount Holly. A bit warmer in southern areas tomorrow, with highs topping out in the low 80s.

Dry, comfortable, and mostly sunny Wednesday through Friday. Highs reaching the upper 70s to 80. Preliminary, the weekend looks decent, but stay tuned.

BOAT/BEACH: A relatively calm day on the water, with light variable winds turning south during the afternoon. Swells and breakers are around 2 feet. The ocean temperature is in the low 70s, and there is a low risk of rip currents, but always swim near a lifeguard. Watch out for any approaching thunderstorms.