Cooler, cloudier weather returns, with a few rain chances too

Tuesday: Beautiful day, stormy night. Just as expected, a line of showers and thunderstorms charged through New Jersey overnight. Unexpectedly, that rain has held on longer than forecast — as of this writing, showers are wrapping up in the southern half of the state.

The rest of Wednesday will be dry and mostly cloudy. That means clouds will cover about 75% of the sky, leaving enough room for occasional peeks of sun (especially late Wednesday morning). A light northerly wind will gently carry in cooler, drier air. High temperatures will be limited to the mid to upper 60s — cooler than Tuesday, and slightly below-normal for early May.

Wednesday night stays quiet, with lots of clouds overhead. Low temperatures will be seasonably cool, around 50 degrees.

Under cloudy skies, occasional sprinkles, an on-shore breeze, and even cooler air, Thursday doesn't look all that pretty. Thus, temperatures will be stuck in the 50s for most of the state. Just blah.

We'll recover nicely on Friday, with thermometers bouncing back into the mid 70s. However, the warmth will accompany more unsettled weather. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are likely throughout the day Friday. The day won't be a washout. Severe weather and flooding chances appear limited. But you'll probably get wet and/or stormed on at some point.

The Mother's Day Weekend looks like yet another "mixed bag" weekend.

Saturday reads like the shining star in this forecast. We'll hopefully see partial sunshine, maintaining high temperatures in the 70s for most of the state. (A sea breeze will keep the Jersey Shore noticeably cooler.)

Sunday, however, looks increasingly damp and dreary. The GFS model has come into agreement with the Euro, suggesting a pretty wet day. (Remember last Sunday?) I think there's still some time for this forecast to evolve and change some more. But I'm definitely leaning toward rain, clouds, and temperatures stuck in the 50s all day. Mother Nature not so nice to the mothers of New Jersey this year.

Skies should clear on Monday, helping temps climb into the 60s. Next Tuesday looks like a nice day with sunshine and 70 degrees.

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