By Doug Schneider
 |  |
The festivities for the 24 Hours of Le Mans begin this Sunday with the traditional scrutineering ceremonies at the Place de la République in the town center of Le Mans. There's always a big crowd on hand, as it provides fans an opportunity to get up close to the cars and drivers in a relaxed setting.
The weather looks good for scrutineering this year. Sunday will have warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine, with highs in the upper 80s F and around 31 C. A cold front is expected to move across the area Sunday night, but with very little moisture to work with, the front is not expected to bring any rain. Even if there were some sprinkles, it would likely be overnight. Temperatures on Monday will be a little cooler behind the front, and winds will shift to the northwest. Early morning clouds will give way to plenty of sunshine by midday.
The long term outlook for the week leading up to the big race looks promising for nice weather. The models are in general agreement that a large high pressure ridge through the lower and mid levels of the atmosphere will be across western Europe through the week and into the race weekend. Here's a depiction of what the pattern is projected to look like near the start time of the race next Saturday from the ECWMF Ensemble Prediction System:
The weather looks good for scrutineering this year. Sunday will have warm temperatures and plenty of sunshine, with highs in the upper 80s F and around 31 C. A cold front is expected to move across the area Sunday night, but with very little moisture to work with, the front is not expected to bring any rain. Even if there were some sprinkles, it would likely be overnight. Temperatures on Monday will be a little cooler behind the front, and winds will shift to the northwest. Early morning clouds will give way to plenty of sunshine by midday.
The long term outlook for the week leading up to the big race looks promising for nice weather. The models are in general agreement that a large high pressure ridge through the lower and mid levels of the atmosphere will be across western Europe through the week and into the race weekend. Here's a depiction of what the pattern is projected to look like near the start time of the race next Saturday from the ECWMF Ensemble Prediction System:
The colors represent heights at the 500 mb pressure level, so the ridge of orange colors over western Europe indicate a high pressure ridge through the midlevels of the atmosphere. The black lines are surface pressure, and we see the center of a high pressure area near Netherlands. This pattern will favor dry conditions and warm temperatures for Le Mans late in the week and the race weekend. Keep in mind that this is a forecast for 240 hours away, so things are likely to change somewhat as we get closer to the race. But so far, all signs point toward nice weather at Le Mans.
I'll have a forecast graphic for Wednesday through Sunday posted on Sunday, so be sure to check back then.
I'll have a forecast graphic for Wednesday through Sunday posted on Sunday, so be sure to check back then.
