Will it rain on July 4, cancelling firework shows in New Jersey? Here's the forecast

With nearly a week of rain in New Jersey and more to come today and tomorrow, many are wondering: Will it rain on July 4?

And will the fireworks show in my town be canceled?

Well, those are more complicated questions than they might seem.

As for the forecast, while we are likely to get a respite from the rain headed into the weekend, thunderstorms are predicted to return on Saturday and Sunday, but be more sporadic than we have seen over the past few days. So one town may get a downpour, while others remain dry.

However, those thunderstorms could return with a smoky haze. Yes, the Canadian wildfire smoke may reappear this weekend. Currently, it's hovering over the Chicago area.

As for the fireworks, each town will make its own decision, so look for a local alert on the shows.

North Jersey's Fourth of July weekend forecast

Here's the forecast from now until July 4.

THURSDAY: 85 degrees with patchy fog in the morning; otherwise, mostly sunny; smoke from Canadian wildfires can create reduced air quality and hazy skies.

FRIDAY: 86 degrees and mostly sunny and humid; smoke from Canadian wildfires can create reduced air quality and hazy skies

SATURDAY: 79 degrees, cloudy and not as warm, but humid with a thundershower

SUNDAY: 81 degrees and overcast with a thunderstorm; humid

MONDAY: 87 degrees with intervals of clouds and sun with widely separated thundershowers; humid

TUESDAY, July 4: 86 degrees and partly sunny and humid with a thundershower in spots

Will Fourth of July fireworks be canceled in North Jersey?

Meteorologist Eric Hoeflich from the National Weather Service said there is potential for evening thunderstorms and unsettled weather in the afternoon of July 4th, but the forecast is still too soon to rule out any fireworks.

"Our chance of thunderstorms is around 30 percent," Hoeflich said, "otherwise looking to be partly cloudy, mostly sunny, high of 86, but still got six days to go, so it's a relatively low confidence forecast."

Some fireworks shows have rain dates in case of inclement weather that pushes celebrations days in advance. These alternate times can be found on local town calendars or NorthJersey.com's Fourth of July event lineup.

The holiday forecast will become clearer as the day draws closer, but packing an extra umbrella before heading out to any fireworks celebration may prove wise.