By Scott Martin - @RaceWx4You
You know what... I think we may have mostly dry conditions throughout much of the morning and the early afternoon hours at Exhibition Place in Toronto for race day for the Honda Indy Toronto. Both of the trusty forecast models that I use for short range outlooks are in very close agreement on timing with an approaching front that will be bringing showers to the area.
The good news is that it would appear that the best chances of showers and a possible thunderstorm would be likely starting after the 3PM EST and last through the remainder of the late afternoon and into the evening hours. There will be rain that should be moving by to the north of the event during the morning hours that could bring a light shower, but that shouldn't last very long at all and only be an inconvenience for a few minutes.
When, and if, the rain starts falling during the late afternoon, amounts will be around 1/4 inch or less, so I do not think it will be a washout, and I don't think the rainfall will be intense enough to bring out a red flag during the race. There will be enough to warrant the use of the gray sidewall Firestone Racing rain tires. Afternoon high will be around 81 degrees, and winds will be out of the southwest at 5-15 MPH. 60% chance for rain after 3:00 PM.
Unfortunately, the closest NWS Radar site in Buffalo, NY, has had a major equipment failure, so the software that we use for our site will be unable to do radar. Therefore, I will have updates throughout the afternoon on my Twitter feed @RaceWx4You using RadarScope.
The good news is that it would appear that the best chances of showers and a possible thunderstorm would be likely starting after the 3PM EST and last through the remainder of the late afternoon and into the evening hours. There will be rain that should be moving by to the north of the event during the morning hours that could bring a light shower, but that shouldn't last very long at all and only be an inconvenience for a few minutes.
When, and if, the rain starts falling during the late afternoon, amounts will be around 1/4 inch or less, so I do not think it will be a washout, and I don't think the rainfall will be intense enough to bring out a red flag during the race. There will be enough to warrant the use of the gray sidewall Firestone Racing rain tires. Afternoon high will be around 81 degrees, and winds will be out of the southwest at 5-15 MPH. 60% chance for rain after 3:00 PM.
Unfortunately, the closest NWS Radar site in Buffalo, NY, has had a major equipment failure, so the software that we use for our site will be unable to do radar. Therefore, I will have updates throughout the afternoon on my Twitter feed @RaceWx4You using RadarScope.
