Some soaking rains moved through New Jersey in the wee hours of Monday morning, giving the state some beneficial rains – especially in the areas where the drought is at its worst.

Atlantic City picked up over 2 inches of rain, LBI saw just a hair over 2 inches, Sea Girt saw 1.76 inches and High Point saw 1 inch. Yes, the rain is inconvenient, but it is very helpful to the water situation.

The forecast moving forward is looking fairly nice. Sunny and warm for Tuesday and Wednesday. Morning lows are in the mid-40s and daily maximums peaking in the low-60s.

Clouds will begin to collect on Wednesday night. Most of Thursday is overcast. As a result of the clouds and wind direction, temperatures fail to get to 60. (Still above average for this time of year.)

Rain returns by Thursday evening. Another decent line of storms should pass through from 6 p.m. through midnight. When the system passes the winds will crank back up from the northwest allowing very chilly air back into the region.

Friday morning lows are in the low-30s and afternoon highs are in the low-50s. The winds early Friday morning could be problematic. Recent rain and the ground thawing will make the ground a little softer. Persistent gusty winds could bring down branches or topple a few older/dead trees. More on that in the coming days.