Boston Marathon Weather Forecast Update: 80 Degrees Possible?
BOSTON (CBS) - What will the main storylines be for the 2012 Boston Marathon?
A photo finish? A record breaking time?
These things are truly impossible to predict.
Read: Boston Marathon Guide
The one thing that just about every runner does not want to be a story - the weather.
Runner prefer a normal April climate to run in.
I mean there is a reason why they run in April in New England and not June or November.
So what is "normal" Boston Marathon weather?
Check: Current Conditions | Weather Map Center | Interactive Radar
The marathon is typically run in mid-April, between the 15th and 21st.
A quick peek at the last 10 years of weather on Marathon Monday shows temperatures in the 40s and 50s for the most part with some light rain on occasion.
Again, typical April-like weather.
Every once in a while, about once every ten years or so, the weather makes headlines and typically not to the delight of runners.
A few examples:
April 16th, 2007: Many feared the race would be postponed due to heavy, flooding rainfall preceding the event. The Hopkinton Green looked like a lake. Boston received nearly an inch of rain early on Marathon morning. The race went on and conditions thankfully improved somewhat.
April 19, 2004: Near record breaking heat. Temperatures peaked at 86 degrees in Boston just one degree shy of the record for that date.
And there have been several other "wacky weather" events on race day throughout history including, snow and sleet, even snow squalls which briefly blinded runners back in 1967.
The infamous "run for the hoses" back in 1976 when temperatures along the route were reported to be in the 90s!
And how about back in 1939 when day turned to night at the starting line in Hopkinton due to the combination of a storm and a partial solar eclipse!
So will this year be another year for the weather record books?
It is possible.
Very warm air will be streaming into New England this weekend, temperatures will top 70 by Sunday.
A cold front will be the key to this forecast.
The big question is when will it pass through.
The best bet right now would be late on Monday, meaning the heat would peak on Marathon Day, perhaps topping 80 degrees, challenging the record for the date of 84 degrees set back in 2003.
Not the forecast that runners were hoping for.
However if that cold front speeds up a bit, and some models are hinting at this, much more seasonal air would flow in from the northwest and temperatures would be in the 50s and 60s, much more tolerable.
There are, of course, several days to go and we will be tracking the evolution and progression of the cold front which will either be the runners best friend or a record breaking worst enemy!
You can follow Terry on Twitter at @TerryWBZ.
