By Doug Schneider

Another day of beautiful southern California weather is expected on Saturday, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. Winds will be shifting to the southwest through the day. This will have an impact on Sunday's weather. With the winds shifting to an onshore direction, moisture will increase and allow for fog and low clouds to develop Saturday night. Fog and clouds will linger into Sunday morning, but I don't think it will be dense enough to deter any of the on-track activities. Any fog should lift by mid-morning, and the clouds should dissipate by early afternoon. With the onshore winds and partial cloud cover, temperatures will be cooler compared to Saturday, with highs near 70,

By Doug Schneider

Not much has changed from my initial forecast for Long Beach, as beautiful weather is still expected each day of the event. 

The weather pattern shown by the models continues to feature a mid and upper level low pressure trough that will be taking shape over Arizona and northern Mexico on Friday. Long Beach will be on the western side of this trough, under the influence of a dry and cool northwesterly flow. The only impact from this system will be breezy conditions on Friday, with a northwest wind between 10 and 20 mph, gusting to 25 mph at times.

As the low pressure system departs and high pressure builds in, winds will become lighter on Saturday, and temperatures will get a little bit warmer, with highs reaching the lower 70s. 

Another weak upper level trough approaches the area on Sunday, and it may bring a little more cloud cover, but not enough to produce any rain. Winds will be light on Sunday, and high temperatures will reach close to 70. 

By Doug Schneider

Very rarely does the Grand Prix of Long Beach have unfavorable weather for racing, and this year is expected to have beautiful weather once again. 

An upper level trough will be dropping southeast from the Pacific Northwest region to the Four Corners region on Friday. The models keep any rain with this system well to the east of Long Beach, so I don't expect that it will have any big impact, other than increasing the northwest winds. It will be breezy on Friday, with winds mainly between 10 and 20 mph, gusting to near 25 mph. 

Saturday will feature plenty of sunshine and lighter winds as low pressure to the east moves farther away. Clouds are expected to increase on Sunday as another upper level disturbance approaches, but moisture with it will be too limited to produce any rainfall. The clouds will be mainly high cirrus clouds, and may serve to take a degree or two off the high temperatures compared to Saturday. Light onshore winds can be expected. 

Yes, the graphic is a repeat from Saturday but the forecast hasn't changed so no need to do a new one... which is good news!!! Skies are starting off the morning overcast and temperatures are in the mid-60s, but the good news is that there is no rain on the radar across Central Alabama and at Barber Motorsports Park. Throughout the day, clouds will slowly decrease and we'll have a mix of sun and clouds by the afternoon hours. The daytime high will be a warm one, reaching the lower 80s around 81 degrees. Winds will be out of the south at 5-10 MPH. With the humid airmass in place, I wouldn't be surprised if you feel a few sprinkles early this morning, but rain will stay away from the track until well after the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama has been completed.

We’ll start off the day with some sunshine but clouds will begin to build throughout the morning and into the afternoon hours. The good news is that we’ll stay dry throughout the morning and early afternoon hours. The bad news is that rain chances start to climb after 3:00 pm and we’ll have the chance of a shower or thunderstorm to move across the track. The highest chances will come after 6:00 pm tonight, so maybe we get through the on-track activity before anything fires up. The high will be around 77 degrees after starting off around 60 degrees at 7:30 am. Winds will be out of the southeast at 2-7 MPH. Chance of rain during the late afternoon hours will be around 30%.
For people camping at the track. We do have the potential for strong to marginally severe storms for this evening, especially from 6:00 pm to midnight. Strong winds and quarter-size hail will be the severe threats. There will be plenty of lightning with these storms, so please find a good place to shelter if a strong storm moves across the track.
I can just about say we will get through all of Sunday without and rain during the on-track activities at Barber Motorsports Park. Skies will be partly to mostly cloudy with the afternoon high topping out around 81 degrees after starting off around 62 degrees when the gates open. Winds will be out of the south at 5-10 MPH. The system that was expected to move in will not arrive until late on Sunday night.

Radar is up and running on the site, just click the radar tab at the top of the page.