Thursday will start off with a cold front bringing rain and some thunderstorms during the morning hours in Daytona Beach. Unfortunately, some of those thunderstorms have the potential to become strong to marginally severe. The Storm Prediction Center has much of Central Florida, including the Daytona Beach area, in a Marginal Risk of severe storms on Thursday. The main threat will be from isolated damaging wind gusts up to 60 MPH. The main window for the stronger to severe storms will be from 7:00 am EST to 1:00 pm EST. Winds will start off gusty during the morning out of the southwest at 10-20 MPH with gusts up to 25 MPH. Rainfall amounts of around 0.75 inches can be expected.

After the storms pass, the rest of the afternoon and into the evening will feature clearing skies and decreasing winds. Cooler and drier air will begin working into Daytona Beach, but you won't feel the difference until Friday. Thursday's high will be in the lower 70s after starting off in the mid-60s for the morning low. Winds will be out of the west at 5-10 MPH.

Sunny skies and much cooler temperatures will be the big weather story for the Daytona Beach area on Friday as the cooler and drier airmass has now worked into the area. Early morning lows will start off in the lower 40s and afternoon highs will top out in the upper 50s. Winds will be in out of the northwest to north at 5-10 MPH.

Saturday will start off with mostly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid-40s. Skies will stay that way throughout the rest of the day and afternoon highs will climb into the upper 50s once again. Winds will be out of the north to northeast at 5-10 MPH. Clouds will start to increase during the overnight hours with temperatures dropping into the upper 40s through midnight and staying there until sunrise.

Sunday will start off with mostly cloudy skies during the morning hours with winds out of the northeast at 5-10 MPH. There may be enough moisture in the air from a passing system that may squeeze out a few drops of rain, but both of the the long-range forecast models are keeping the speedway dry throughout the entire day. Temperatures will climb from the upper 40s at daybreak into the lower 60s by the checkered flag.

On Thursday, a cold front will be working through the southeastern United States with showers and thunderstorms out ahead of it. For the Daytona Beach area, showers and a few claps of thunder look to be likely during the early morning hours at the track. The good news is that the activity looks to come to an end around or just after the noon hour. Skies will begin to slowly clear and will be mostly clear by sunset. Winds will be out of the southwest at 10-15 MPH to start, but will shift more out of the west by the afternoon. The afternoon will be mild with the high reaching the lower 70s.

Friday will be a very nice but cool day in the Daytona Beach area. Skies will be full of sunshine but those jackets may be needed for the morning hours and possibly throughout the day as winds will be out of the north at 5-10 MPH. After starting off in the mid-40s at sunrise, expect the afternoon highs to only top out in the upper 50s.

Saturday will be a sunny day at Daytona International Speedway with temperatures starting off in the mid-40s at sunrise. The good news is that we'll make it up into the lower 60s for the afternoon high, but winds will continue to be out of the north to northeast at 5-10 MPH. For the evening and into the late night hours, skies will remain clear but temperatures will not drop all that much, making it into the lower 50s by midnight.

We'll have some clouds start to roll in during the pre-dawn hours on Sunday and early morning lows will only bottom out in the lower 50s at sunrise. Skies will be mostly cloudy by sunrise and through the rest of the daylight hours at the track, but we'll stay dry through the end of the race. Winds will shift from out of the north to out of the west at 2-7 MPH. Afternoon high will make it up into the lower 60s.

By: Stephen McCoy

After a warm and wet Friday at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, cooler temperatures and drier air will move in behind the cold front for Saturday and Sunday. Some lingering moisture in the low levels of the atmosphere will result in mostly cloudy to overcast conditions in the morning to mid-day on Saturday before skies begin to clear in the afternoon. Vertically-stacked winds from the west to northwest will cause some breezy conditions with winds gusts possibly exceeding 20 mph; as with cloud cover, winds will gradually decrease as the day progresses. Conditions on Sunday are expected to be clear with light winds from the east to northeast.

By: Stephen McCoy

The general weather pattern for this weekend remains mostly the same in this update for the Roar Before the Rolex 24. An upper level shortwave trough is currently centered over the desert southwest and is expected to track eastward through the end of the week. As it approaches central Texas, a surface low pressure system will develop off the Gulf Coast and track northeastward. A cold front will extend southward from the center of the system and cross through central Florida through Friday night.

Conditions are expected to be similar to those indicated in the previous forecast, though the models are somewhat split on the timing of precipitation on Friday. Model confidence is increasing towards a frontal passage in the afternoon or evening on Friday, which would certainly cause impacts to the afternoon sessions. However, the most recent GFS runs are showing the front passing in the early afternoon, while the latest ECMWF and NAM runs show the passage in the late afternoon or evening. One thing to note is that the recent NAM 3km runs indicate precipitation will be mostly scattered ahead of the front as opposed to a squall line, which lowers chances as showers could be hit-or-miss.

Winds on Friday will reach 10-15 mph with stronger gusts likely as both surface winds and low level winds will be from the southwest; gusts will reach their maximum speed as the front approaches the track. Cooler temperatures will move in behind the front for Saturday and Sunday. Some partly cloudy conditions are expected in the morning as moisture will linger behind the front in the upper levels, but will clear out into the afternoon and conditions will remain clear through the rest of the weekend.

By: Stephen McCoy

The 2019 IMSA season kicks off later this week with the Roar Before the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway. Conditions look to start with some clouds and rain, but will end with lots of sunshine and temperatures in the mid to upper 60's.

An upper level shortwave trough is expected to develop over the southwestern US Tuesday into Wednesday as it closes off and splits from an upper level longwave trough. On Thursday, a surface low pressure system will form over the Gulf of Mexico, ahead of the trough and track northeastward through the rest of the week. A cold front will extend from the system as it approaches the Midwest Thursday night.

On Friday, winds in the low levels will be from the southwest, bringing moisture from the Gulf of Mexico over the area, resulting in partly to mostly cloudy conditions through the day. Surface winds will also be mainly from the southwest, with the strongest winds occurring before the frontal passage; winds gusts could exceed 20 mph. There is a chance for precipitation towards that late afternoon or evening on Friday as the front approaches, though the models are split on timing of the approach; the ECMWF shows the front passing in the afternoon, the GFS shows it passing in the evening. Regardless, the precipitation has the possibility of occurring during the later on-track sessions on Friday.

After the front passes through on Friday, conditions will begin to clear as winds in the low levels bring drier air into the region from the west and northwest, though upper level winds from the southwest could cause some light cloud cover in the upper levels. An area of high pressure will build in behind the front and move towards the east on Saturday and Sunday, resulting in surface winds starting from the north to northwest then shifting to the northeast. With winds from the same direction in the low levels and at the surface on Saturday, wind speeds should be slightly higher than Sunday with gusts over 15 mph possible. Surface winds will also bring in cooler air to the region, with high temperatures on Saturday and Sunday reaching the mid to upper 60's.