By Doug Schneider

Formula One is not typically a series that we make forecasts for, but we do sometimes get requests for the US GP weekend, a race that some of our followers will be attending. 

A frontal boundary is going to be stalled over eastern Texas for much of this week, bringing quite a bit of rain to the region through Saturday. The front will be positioned near the coast, while winds across the Gulf of Mexico will be blowing from east to west, up and over the front. This moist air rising over the front will keep cloudy skies over COTA along with a good chance of rain each day this week. With the persistent rains, flooding could be a concern across eastern Texas all week. Temperatures will be cool with a northerly wind and overcast clouds, and highs will only reach the mid to upper 60s Friday and Saturday. The impact on the racing action on Friday is Low, as it appears that rain on Friday will mainly be light, with amounts in the range of a tenth to a quarter inch. The rain on Saturday has the potential to be heavier, between a quarter and a half inch, so I have the impact as Moderate. This means that delays to the scheduled on-track activity are possible, and rain tires will be needed, but it should not be enough to cause cancellations.

The good news in this forecast is that another front will push from north to south across Texas on Saturday night, with a strong high pressure ridge building in behind it on Sunday. This will bring drier air to the region for Sunday, and race day should be very nice. With mostly sunny skies and a north wind at 10 to 15 mph, temperatures will reach the lower 70s during the race.

You could really say we have a "Carbon Copy Forecast" throughout the event week out at Sonoma Raceway for the running of the 2018 SCCA Runoffs. The reason for not much change in the forecast is that a ridge of higher pressure is located to the north of the state in the Pacific Northwest, while a trough of lower pressure is located over the far southern parts of California and into the desert southwest. In weather terms, this is called a "Rex Block" pattern.

With very little movement in the pattern expected throughout the week and weekend, conditions will stay pretty consistent with the only difference being that winds will weaken some after Wednesday. With the weakening of those offshore winds, we may have to include a chance of fog in the forecast during the morning hours later in the week, but it is just too early to know that for certain at this point.

Highs each day will be in the mid to the upper 70s with early morning lows in the 40s. You'll definitely need jackets for the mornings and trade those for shades and sunscreen during the late morning through the afternoon hours. A great week ahead at Sonoma.

By: Stephen McCoy

Overcast conditions are likely to dominate the forecast for Saturday at the Six Hours of Fuji as moisture from the southwest out of the East China Sea. Temperatures will be cooler than initially forecast around 50F(10C) as surface winds moving over the Sea of Japan enter the region from the northeast. A surface low pressure system mentioned in previous forecasts is still expected to form to the south of Japan during the day on Saturday. Rain likely overnight Saturday as the system approaches the southern coast; moisture from the Pacific will wrap around the east side of the system, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall at times. Due to the timing of the approach of the low pressure, there's a medium chance for track activities to be impacted, especially activities towards the end of the day.

For Sunday, precipitation from the low pressure system is likely to continue through the morning with lower chances for scattered showers throughout the day. With chances extending through the day, there is still a low impact for the early part of the race. With more zonal flow in the upper levels, drier air will move in, with a slight decrease in cloud cover, though conditions are likely to remain mostly cloudy. Daytime heating mixed with the source of the surface winds coming from the low pressure system will allow temperatures to warm closer to 60F(15C).

By Doug Schneider

The remains of Hurricane Michael have cleared out of Georgia, and it has been a beautiful day at Road Atlanta, although it has been quite windy, with gusts around 30 mph. The Gainsville airport, which is located about 10 miles north of the track, recorded 2.68 inches of rain from Michael.

A cold front has moved through the area, and winds have shifted to the northwest as high pressure builds into the area. This high will continue to dominate the weather pattern over the Southeast through Saturday, which will provide really nice weather for racing Friday and Saturday. Temperatures will be comfortable in the afternoon, reaching the lower to mid 70s, and morning lows will be cool, in the lower 50s. Humidity levels will be very pleasant too. Winds will be lighter tomorrow around 10 mph), and even lighter on Saturday (5-10 mph). 

Since I'll be at the track Friday and Saturday, and since the weather looks quiet, I don't plan to have another post here to update the forecast. I will have some posts on our Twitter and Facebook accounts, which you can find on the right. See you at the track!  

By: Stephen McCoy

Cool conditions remain in the forecast for the Six Hours of Fuji, however the higher chances of precipitation have shifted more to Friday and Saturday night into Sunday morning.

The pattern in the upper levels looks to stay relatively consistent with the previous forecast with a longwave trough moving through on Friday with a shortwave trough following close behind, and conditions returning to a more zonal flow on Sunday. At the surface, the cold front from a low pressure system to the north is expected to linger in the area on Friday, with a chance for rain concentrated in the morning and possibly early afternoon. Due to high pressure to the east, winds will be from the east to northeast, though with a slightly stronger pressure gradient winds will be around 5-10 mph (8-16 kph).

An area of low pressure is expected to form to the south of Japan, ahead of the shortwave trough, and could bring a slight chance of showers to the region Saturday afternoon or evening. The system is expected to track to the northwest, approaching the southern coast overnight Saturday into Sunday morning before turning east towards the North Pacific Ocean. There is a likely chance of rain during this time frame, with chances decreasing as the day progresses. Winds will continue from the northeast as winds wrap cyclonically around the low.

High amounts of relative humidity in the low levels will keep conditions mostly cloudy to overcast for most of the forecast period. A shift in low level winds to the north on Sunday afternoon is expected to erode some of the cloud cover into the evening hours.