Boston Marathon Weather Forecast: Close To Perfection

BOSTON (CBS) - The countdown is now at 3 days!

The 117th running of the great Boston Marathon will commence very soon.

Are you ready?

I am extremely happy that the weather will be so cooperative for all the participants, volunteers and spectators.

Check: Interactive Radar  |  Current Conditions  |  Weather Blogs

It's all about perfect timing when mixing special outdoor events and Mother Nature. Fortunately, this afternoon's heavy rain and cold gusty wind is not delayed until Monday and, thankfully, there will be NO repeat of last year's sizzling heat of 87 degrees!

Close to perfection is how I rate the conditions this time around. How sweet is that?

After examining the latest myriad of meteorological computer models, I am highly confident that we really have no worries.

It may be too chilly for some early Monday morning. Otherwise, the only thing that could happen is the appearance of varying amounts of patchy cloudiness providing some shady spells in places as a weakening warm front shifts northeastward into the region.

I think that most of the area should remain dry and any cloudiness could shift north and east of the race route deeper into the afternoon.

There is a revision regarding the forecast of wind direction and speed. The latest signals indicate that a ridge of high pressure will linger longer along the coast. That suggests that a light sea breeze will be blowing all day. The wind will be veering from east to southeast to more south-southeast by mid-late afternoon.

All along the race route, the speed should be lower than I what I was thinking yesterday. So no strong head wind or cross wind or tail wind. Additionally, the approaching warmup will be tempered on Monday before a surge exceeding 70 occurs on Tuesday.

Leading up to Marathon Monday, after rainy and cold conditions this afternoon into tonight, Saturday and Sunday will dry out and feature varying amounts of clouds and sunshine.

There is, however, a low to moderate risk of a shower tomorrow evening and perhaps a brief sprinkle or light shower Sunday morning. Expect high temperatures in the middle to upper 50's on Saturday and lower to middle 50's on Sunday.

Monday Morning In Hopkinton:

Patchy clouds and sunshine, calm to start then a light south-southeasterly breeze, temperatures starting out at 7 a.m. in the lower to middle 30's then rising up from 46-52 at the staggered start times of the race.

Daytime Along The Course:

Patchy clouds and some sunshine, breeze picking up from the south at 5-10 mph, warming to the middle 50's by midday then up to 56-60 by mid-afternoon but cooler in Boston.

Finish Line In Boston:

Mainly sunny, a southeasterly breeze at 8-12 mph with a temperature near or slightly over 50 at mid-afternoon could rise a few degrees after that.

Follow Barry on Twitter @BarryWBZ