The weekend weather forecast has Barbara Whitten feeling good.
Whitten and others in Maine’s tourism industry know that visitors increasingly make last-minute decisions about their trips based on what they hear about the weather. And the forecast for the holiday weekend looks promising: warm and dry on Saturday and Independence Day and only a chance of rain Sunday.
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“I’m encouraged. It’s good weather and people are ready to get out,” said Whitten, president of the Greater Portland Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Whitten says she has noticed other good signs: more cars with out-of-state plates and more people with cameras around their necks — even when the weather is less than ideal. The number of visits to the bureau’s website is up 15 percent from last year, and the number of requests for visitor guides is up 59 percent, she said.
Peter Daigle expects to have a better picture of bookings at Lafayette Hotels today, after potential travelers get another look at the weather forecast. The company has 23 properties in Maine, including those in tourist-destination towns such as Bar Harbor, Boothbay Harbor and Wells.
Daigle, the company’s chief operating officer, expects beach properties will do well if the weather cooperates. He said it is still early in the season.
“The coast especially doesn’t really get going until the late first or second week of July and goes strong until school starts,” he said.
The draw of good weather may be tempered by gas prices that remain high despite a 20-cent drop since Memorial Day. Holiday weekend traffic at the Maine Turnpike toll plaza in York is expected to be down 5.4 percent — about 19,000 vehicles — from last year, according to the Maine Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Southern Maine.
“Though gas prices have eased about 5 percent since Memorial Day, it isn’t enough to have significantly altered travel patterns,” said Charles Colgan, director of the center. “Further gas price declines over the summer may mean that traffic volumes will pick up later in July and August and rebound close to 2010 levels.”
The center predicted a 6 percent drop in traffic for Memorial Day weekend. The actual decrease was 5.1 percent.
While volume may be lighter, the Maine Turnpike Authority still expects heavy traffic in southern Maine — especially northbound from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday and southbound from noon to 7 p.m. Monday. Maine State Police will have additional troopers on the highway, as well as air patrols.
Chris Kimble is expecting good weather in Maine.
Kimble, a National Weather Service forecaster, says it should be warm and dry Saturday. Temperatures will likely reach the upper 70s in Portland and be a bit warmer away from the coast. Sunday also will be warm, but a cold front expected to move into New England late in the day will mean a 30 percent to 40 percent chance of showers and a few thunderstorms. It should be dry again on Monday, with temperatures in the mid-80s.
“It just looks like a nice weekend,” he said, “apart from a few showers and thunderstorms Sunday into Sunday night.”
Staff Writer Ann S. Kim can be contacted at 791-6383 or at:
akim@pressherald.com
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