If the luck of the Irish holds, warm dry weather will greet Lawrence’s St. Patrick’s Day parade, which begins at 1 p.m. in South Park.

“Keep your fingers crossed,” said Matt Makens, 6News meteorologist. “It should stay dry because our rain chances are not as great as they will be tonight and tomorrow.”

¢See LIVE Web cams along the parade route.¢ For the latest forecast, go to weather.lawrence.com and tune in at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. to Sunflower Broadband Channel 6.¢ You can also watch the parade live on Sunflower Broadband’s cable Channel 6.

The chance for rain in Lawrence is 40 percent for Monday afternoon and increases to 80 percent by the evening, Makens said.

The temperature should be in the 60s for parade time, with mid-70s for Monday’s afternoon high.

“Take T-shirts to the parade and maybe umbrellas in the car,” he said. “I don’t think folks will need them, but at least they’ll have them with them or close by.”

Thunderstorms will not be as severe as last week’s storms, he said.

“But within these storms could be a lot of rain, very heavy rain, small hail and, of course, lightning,” he said.

The chance for rain continues all the way through Thursday, with 80 percent chances of rain Monday night, Tuesday, Tuesday night, Wednesday and Wednesday night.

“We could pick up at least a half-inch of rain if not quite a bit more,” he said.

Temperatures overnight will drop to 56, with the high Tuesday reaching 65. Tuesday’s overnight low will drop to 53, with the high Wednesday climbing to 58.

Thursday’s morning low will be 43 and climb to 50. Friday’s morning low will be 36, with the high reaching 52.

Saturday will be mostly cloudy, with temperatures starting at 33 and reaching 54 by afternoon.