July Fourth weather ideal

IRONWOOD — The warm days, cool nights recent weather trend is expected to continue through the Fourth of July and a few days after, according to the National Weather Service in Marquette.

There’s little chance of precipitation in the immediate forecast, with a 20 percent probability of a thunderstorm on Thursday, so there shouldn’t be any rain on area parades.

Sunday’s forecast is for a 40 percent chance of a thunderstorm, followed by a 60 percent chance on Sunday.

The low of 43 degrees for the 24-hour period to 7 a.m. Tuesday was nowhere near the record of 31 set in 1907, according to the weather service.

The low of 38 at the Marquette National Weather Service office on Tuesday broke the previous record for July 2 of 40 set in 1995, however.

The Ironwood forecast was for a high of 77 and low of 54 today, followed by a high of 79 and low of 59 on the Fourth of July.

Friday’s high will be around 82, with a low of 66.

The mild weather is quite a contrast to a year ago, when heavy winds knocked down trees throughout the Gogebic Range.

On July 2, 2012, wind gusts of up to 60 or 70 mph blew down a barn in Kimball Wis., and lifted a trailer off the ground there.

The storm knocked out electricity to many Gogebic Range homes and left countless trees uprooted, as Ironwood and Hurley crews scrambled the day before July Fourth to clear city streets of branches and debris.

The storm was followed by hot weather, as it was a sweltering 87 a year ago on July Fourth.

The long-term average high in Ironwood for July Fourth is 75 and the average low is 55, according to NWS records. The record high of 90 was set in 1990, while the low of 35 occurred in 1972.

Old-timers might recall the wettest July Fourth on record here, in 1949, when a belly-washer dropped 2.35 inches of rain.