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. 

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.

Much of the activity that affected the area late on Thursday moved out earlier and has left us with a few areas of drizzle to very light rain close by. We may have a few light showers or drizzle on the back side of a departing low wrap around and move across the track during the morning hours, but the afternoon and early evening hours look to be dry. We're starting off with mostly cloudy skies but that cloud cover will dissipate somewhat and leave us with a mix of sun and clouds late in the day. Temperatures will start off in the lower 60s and climb up into the mid-70s for the afternoon high. Winds will be out of the southwest to west at 5-10 MPH. Chance of rain will be around 30% during the morning but will be dropping during the afternoon hours. If any more rain falls this morning, amounts will be very light, less than 0.05 inches.

Saturday is trending pretty much the same as yesterday as we'll continue to have a chance of a passing shower or thunderstorm during the main heating of the day, after 1:00 pm. We'll have more clouds than sun with temperatures starting out in the upper 50s and topping out around 80 degrees. Winds will be out of the east to southeast at 3-8 MPH. Rain chances are around 40% and if any showers pass over the track, amounts will be less than 0.10 inches.

Sunday continues to trend dry as the system is expected to move in later in the evening. I'm still going to keep a chance of a passing shower or thunderstorm throughout the afternoon as there will be plenty of instability available, but the main action will not arrive into the area until well after the completion of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. If any storm does develop during the afternoon, it will be working in unstable air, so the possibility of a strong storm is not out of the question. Temperatures will start off in the mid-60s and climb into the lower 80s for the afternoon high. Winds will be out of the south at 5-10 MPH. Skies will be mostly cloudy to start but some clearing is expected to occur during the late morning and into the afternoon becoming partly cloudy, and I'm putting the chance of rain at 40% for now.

Radar is up and running, just click on the Radar link at the top of the page. I'm about to head out to the track. I hope you have a great day and a great weekend.

​There will be a weakening system that will be in the process of leaving Central Alabama on Friday morning, but unfortunately, it leaves behind a warm and moist airmass that will hang on through the weekend. Before the rain tapers off right at or just before dawn, rain will be likely and will make the track pretty damp. By the time the gates open to the public, we'll have mostly cloudy skies over Barber Motorsports Park with a small chance of a passing shower or two throughout the morning and into the early afternoon hours. Showers, at this time, look to stay south of the track for the mid-afternoon through the end of the on-track day. Temperatures will start off in the upper 50s at daybreak and will rise into the upper 70s. Winds will be out of the south to southwest at 2-5 MPH. The chance of rain throughout the day will be around 30%. If any rain falls during the day, totals will be light, less than 0.05 inches.

While we'll have just a little more sunshine throughout the day on Saturday, skies will still feature more clouds than sun. With the moist atmosphere in place, a few passing showers with an embedded clap of thunder or two will be possible. At this point, the chance of rain at the track is around 40%, but we'll have more dry conditions than rain. If any rain does fall, amounts will be less than 0.10 inches. We'll have to stay weather aware as there will be plenty of instability in place, so there is the potential for a strong storm. Temperatures start off in the lower 60s at daybreak and will climb to right around 80 degrees for the high. Winds will be out of the southeast to south at 2-7 MPH.

Much of the day on Sunday continues to look dry and warm at the track, but there will be a system approaching from the west that looks to move into the area during the latter part of the afternoon and into the evening hours. Now we may have to watch for any cells that may develop out ahead of the system and move across the area. We'll have pretty stout instability in place during the late morning and throughout the remainder of the day, so we will have the potential of a strong to possibly severe storm. As of now, the long range models are not showing any cells developing ahead of the system, so let's hope that solution is correct. Once the system arrives, the instability will drop rapidly, but we'll still have enough for the possibility of a strong storm. The chance of rain is at 50% for now throughout the day, but like I said, much of the morning and early afternoon looks to stay dry at this point. Temperatures will start off in the lower 60s and will climb up to the upper 70s just below the 80 degree mark. Winds will be out of the southeast to south at 5-10 MPH.