Cold Mackinac weather predicted

By Peggy Walsh-Sarnecki

July 10, 2014 at 7:41 pm Lake Huro

Bayview Yacht Club is providing daily weather briefings for the week before Mackinac.

Weather is always on the minds of sailors and that’s especially true as we approach the start of the 90th Bell’s Beer Bayview Mackinac Race this Saturday.

Organizer Bayview Yacht Club regularly hires a meteorologist to do a detailed weather briefing for the sailors the morning of the race’s start.

This year Bayview asked Mark Thornton and lakeeriewx to provide a daily weather forecast during the week leading up to the race, which is available on Bayview’s Facebook page, Bayview Yacht Club – Race to Mackinac.

Thornton is predicting the race will start under a high pressure system with southerly winds at 8 to 13 knots, which he thinks will weaken and turn southwest overnight.

By 8 am Sunday morning he thinks a low will be over Lake Huron, with wind direction depending on where a boat is located in comparison with the low; Cove Island will have southerly winds, south of the weather system should see south to southwest winds, and west of the system will see northwest winds. Windspeed on Sunday will be 5 to 10 knots.

By Monday, the forecast is calling for winds veering northwest at 10 to 15 knots.

Rain and thunderstorms are possible all three days, according to Thornton’s forecast.

For those heading up to the island by car, the forecast is on the cool side. According to weather.com, highs will be in the 60s, with lows in the 50s, Sunday through Wednesday.

Take an umbrella. There’s a 40% chance of rain on the island Sunday and Monday, and a 30% chance Tuesday and Wednesday.

Ashore Detroit will be at the 8 am weather briefing in Port Huron to give you an idea of what the latest pre-race conditions are likely to be.