LOCAL

Great Lakes temperatures still on the chilly side for Memorial Day weekend

Lansing State Journal

At their warmest near state park beaches, temperatures on Saturday, May 26, 2018 are resting between 58 and 62 degrees, dipping substantially further from the shoreline, said Brandon Hoving, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.

LANSING - It's heating up this holiday weekend in Greater Lansing, but those traveling to take a dip in one of the Great Lakes shouldn't expect ideal swimming temperatures just yet.

At their warmest along the shoreline, temperatures are resting between 58 and 62 degrees, said Brandon Hoving, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. Boaters looking to cool off away from shore can expect water temperatures closer to the upper 40s to low 50s, Hoving said.

"By Monday we're likely to tack on a few more degrees, but it'll still be on the cool side," he added.

The chance of golf outings and barbeques getting rained out this Memorial Day weekend are minute across much of the state.

Around Lansing, there's a small chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms before 5 p.m. Saturday and after 2 p.m. on Sunday. The best chance of isolated rainfall on Sunday is closer to Mt. Pleasant and Houghton Lake than Lansing, Hoving said. Thermostats are expected to top off Sunday at around 90 degrees locally.

Monday will see sunny and hot conditions, with high temperatures in the low 90s. Upper Peninsula travelers near the border with Wisconsin have a slight chance of seeing showers Monday, with the Lower Peninsula staying almost exclusively hot and dry.

Close to 1.3 million Michigan residents are expected to travel this weekend, the most in more than a decade, according to AAA Michigan. The statewide average for gas prices is around $3 a gallon, the highest since the 2014 Memorial Day weekend.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.