Weather Eye: Holiday weekend will start out nice, then get iffy

A little bit of sunshine and a little bit of clouds and showers to balance things out. That was our weather the past few days, and today will be a repeat. We could see a thunderstorm or two here and there, as well as small hail. The snow level in the Cascades will remain at or slightly above the pass levels. The peaks get more of that white topping.

The long holiday weekend will be a mixed bag of weather, with Saturday being the nicest day. It should be dry and seasonably warm before more clouds and showers threaten us Sunday and Monday.

Now that we have surpassed three weeks of the month, how are we doing climatewise? Our average mean temperature is just about spot-on: cooler days but mild nights. Precipitation totals are right on target.

It just goes to show you that climate normals are just a collection of extremes with cool and wet conditions earlier in the month and then this week with a nice dry and warm streak in between.

Today’s feature in National Safe Boating Week is wind and waves. Did you know that wind tends to be stronger over the surface of water than on land? It doesn’t take much to turn a rather placid area of water into one teeming with whitecaps, especially in the afternoon when heat causes the wind to rise.

Check the weather before launching and know what to do when the wind blows. More information: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/marine/safeboating.

Patrick Timm is a local weather specialist. His column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Reach him at http://weathersystems.com.