Thomas Niziol, meteorologist-in-charge at the National Weather Service office in Cheektowaga, spun an apt metaphor when he described the weather system parked over the Great Lakes as being like “a giant whirlpool.”

So is it going to rain on your parade/ picnic/fireworks display this holiday weekend? It depends on when they are scheduled.

Today’s looking not so good, but there’s improvement in the forecast by tonight. Real relief comes Saturday, with partly sunny skies and a high around 70.

And the rest of the weekend? Simply star-spangled, Niziol predicted.

“The night of July 4, Saturday night, looks great,” he said.