Masters 2017 weather forecast: Wednesday’s Par 3 Contest looks like a wash

Update 2 p.m.: The Par 3 contest has been rained out and the course at Augusta National is closed for the rest of the day.

The main weather concern for the 2017 Masters will be Wednesday’s forecast for the traditional Par 3 contest. Wednesday morning may start off mostly dry and mostly cloudy, but by late morning and early afternoon, showers and storms will be moving into and over Augusta National. Main concern will not only be rain, but the threat of strong and potentially severe storms. It’s possible we could see the storms arrive in two waves, one during the late morning and midday, then the next late afternoon into the evening.

I anticipate there to be severe weather watches later in the day for Georgia into South Carolina. Anyone in or around Augusta National will want to pay close attention to weather reports, watches, and possible warnings that could occur.

For those who don’t follow my NASCAR weather forecasts, instead of probability of rain I give the odds of racing when rain may threaten a race. For the Par 3 Contest at Augusta National I’d give the odds of golfing to be around 20 percent or less. There may be breaks but with a relatively high threat of not only rain but storms, I think officials may air on the side of caution on this one.

Once we get into the 2017 Masters on Thursday and into the weekend, better weather prevails. We will have sunny skies and cool weather for Rounds 1 and 2. The only other weather concern will be strong gusty winds on Thursday. West winds of 20 to 30 mph are possible Thursday, with gusts near 35 to possibly 40 mph. It will make for a challenging Round 1.

By the weekend, the sunshine will continue and temperatures will start to warm back to near and into the 70s with lighter winds. The full 2017 Masters weather forecast can be found below.

WEDNESDAY - Par 3 Contest:
Cloudy with developing showers and thunderstorms. Some storms could become severe later in the day. Temperatures will be in the middle to upper 70s for the afternoon and winds are expected to be southerly between 10 and 15 mph.

THURSDAY - Round 1 of The Masters:
Mix of sunshine and clouds, with most of the clouds in the morning and afternoon sunshine. Temperatures will be cooler as morning temperatures around 8 a.m. will be in the middle 50s. By midday Thursday, partly to mostly sunny skies and temperatures reaching the low 60s but winds increasing to near 20 to 25 mph out of the west. It will remain in the 60s and windy into the afternoon. Some gusts out of the west could reach 30 to 35 mph.

FRIDAY - Round 2 of The Masters:
Remains cool and sunny for Round 2 of the 2017 Masters. Morning temperatures at 8 a.m. will be in the middle 40s and winds out of the west between 10 to 15 mph. Midday Friday, mostly sunny and temperatures near 60 but winds still westerly between 10 to 15 mph. Middle 60s for the afternoon under mostly sunny skies and winds still out of the west 10 to 15 mph.

WEEKEND - Rounds 3 and 4 of The Masters:
Plenty of sunshine and less wind for both Saturday and Sunday at Augusta National. Morning temperatures both days will start off in the middle to upper 40s. Saturday will see afternoon temperatures reach near 70 degrees with Sunday being the warmest day of the tournament reaching the middle to upper 70s in the afternoon.

I am a certified broadcast meteorologist and regular weather contributor for SBNation.com for NFL and NASCAR. You can follow me this weekend on Twitter @NASCAR_WXMAN or on Facebook.