Today will likely be the nicest day of the next several, as rounds of showers and storms are expected this weekend with building heat and humidity.

Here are your weather headlines for Friday, July 17, 2015...

Pleasant Friday

Thursday was gorgeous, and Friday is looking very nice too! Even though clouds will increase a bit this afternoon, high temperatures will end up mostly in the lower 80s. Northwest New Jersey and the Jersey Shore will likely be limited to the 70s today. Continued low humidity and light winds will contribute to our pleasant weather.

Unsettled Saturday

There are a couple of divergent forecast solutions for Saturday's weather, but the bottom line is that we'll likely see at least "some" rain. Boooo. More importantly, I don't think the day will be a "washout" for any given location. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected, especially in the early morning and in the late afternoon. However... there could certainly be some raindrops in the middle of the day too. (Again, a variety of model solutions unfortunately leads to a muddled, low confidence forecast.) If you have outdoor plans, you'll have to keep a close eye on the sky and/or radar as the bands of rain potentially move through.

Meanwhile, it will be very warm and somewhat breezy on Saturday. Highs will be in the 82° to 88° range. Humidity will bump up a bit, so it could start feeling a bit sticky in the afternoon and evening.

HOT Sunday

Actually, "hot" might be an understatement, given the latest high temperature forecast numbers for Sunday. And especially given the humidity that builds in this weekend, it's going get downright oppressive by Sunday afternoon. Maybe the hottest day of 2015 so far?

Under partly sunny skies, temperatures on Sunday are expected to soar into the 90s almost everywhere in New Jersey. (The exception will be along the Jersey Shore, but we'll likely still see mid to upper 80s there.) As usual in the summertime, the temperature will not tell the whole story as the humidity increases dramatically this weekend. The dew point will pop over 70° on Sunday. (Dew point is the temperature at which dew forms, and our best measure of atmospheric moisture and mugginess.) Definitely steamy. The heat index will likely rise to over 100° in many spots. (Heat index is the "apparent temperature", or what the air feels like with humidity factored in.) Actually, doing the math on the "worst-case scenario" with a 95° temperature and a 74° dew point... that's a 106° heat index. Disgusting. Be sure to stay hydrated and stay cool, please.

While Sunday looks mostly dry, the heat and humidity will likely spawn some spot showers and storms in the afternoon and evening hours. And those storms may get quite strong, so please stay vigilant to changing weather conditions all weekend.

Beyond Sunday, our weather will remain hot through early next week. I have a sneaking suspicion we'll be talking about a good ol' "heat wave" as we head back to work on Monday...

Until then, have a great weekend!

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