Racecast Weather - Your Source for Race Weather Information
  • Home
  • Racecasts
  • 2023 Schedule
  • Services
  • Contact
  • Bios
  • Links

First forecast for the Roar Before the 24

12/30/2019

Comments

 
By Doug Schneider
Picture
A cold front is expected to move across the Daytona area and bring showers to the Speedway on Friday and Friday night, but the good news is that the timing of most of the rain should allow for very little impact on the on-track activities. 

The Roar will open with warm temperatures and a good southwest breeze on Friday. Through the day, clouds will be increasing as a deep upper level trough and its associated cold front move across the Plains to the eastern United States. Ahead of this front, some scattered showers may develop around Daytona on Friday afternoon. I expect that only the late day practice session will have a chance of rain, and any rain that occurs will likely be light. The main band of showers with the cold front is not expected to move across Daytona until after dark on Friday night. 

By the start of practice on Saturday morning, the cold front should be east of the Speedway, and clouds will gradually be clearing out. The track may be wet in the morning, but it should dry out quickly with clearing skies and a bit of wind. Temperatures will be cooler compared to Friday, but still quite pleasant in the lower 70s. Winds will shift to the west and still be a little breezy at 10 to 15 mph. 

High pressure building over the area will bring a northwest winds and cooler temperatures for Sunday, with morning lows in the upper 40s and afternoon highs in the mid 60s. Still, there will be plenty of sunshine all day, along with low humidity. 

Over the past few days, the models have been in pretty good agreement on this pattern, and have not changed much from run to run, so my confidence in this forecast panning out is fairly high. Check back through the week for updates.
Picture
Comments

The best weather and racing photos of 2019

12/18/2019

Comments

 
By Doug Schneider

Each year at Racecast Weather, we collect photos through the year of our two favorite things - weather and race cars - and pick the best to be featured in a final post to close out the year. Thanks to the extremely talented photographers (and not so talented, like myself) who took these photos - credit for each pops up when you hover over each image. Click on each image to view a larger size.

Thanks for following our forecasts through 2019, and Scott, Stephen, and I hope you have a very happy Christmas season. We'll see you again on December 30 with the forecast for the Roar Before the 24 in January.
Wall cloud approaching VIR - Doug Schneider
Rainbow over VIR - Doug Schneider
Sunrise with fog at VIR - Kerrigan Smith
Crepuscular rays at Spa - Blancpain GT Series
Ford GT spray at Watkins Glen - David Yowe
Snow at Spa - Frozenspeed
Storms approaching Road America - Stoner Car Care
Storms near Watkins Glen - Christian Rodriguez for GT Report
Purple sky at the Nurburgring - Jamey Price for SC365
Sunrise at Le Mans - Prescott Motorsport
Clouds over Le Mans - Aston Martin Racing
Circuit Paul Ricard - Blancpain GT Series
Ragged clouds over Sebring - Pedro for DailySportsCar
Hydroplane - Andrew Hall for DailySportsCar
Sebring sunset - Julia Piquet
IndyCar test at Laguna Seca - Joe Skibinski for IndyCar Series
Sunrise at Mount Panorama - IGTC
Snow at Monza - Autodromo Nazionale di Monza
Lightning at Kyalami 9 Hours - Drew Gibson for Bentley Racing
Comments

Wednesday forecast update for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill

12/4/2019

Comments

 
By Doug Schneider
Picture
There's no good news to report today about the weather forecast at Thunderhill Raceway this weekend. A deep and slow-moving low pressure system will be crossing Northern California, bringing periods of rain and breezy conditions from Thursday night through Saturday night. The only change change to the forecast worth mentioning is that the models are showing this system moving slightly slower than before, and to account for that, I have added a chance of rain to Sunday morning. So while the vast majority of the 25 Hours will be run in the rain, the final stages of the race, possibly the final 3-6 hours, may be rain-free. Through the event, I expect that rainfall amounts will likely be between 1 and 2 inches. Wind will also be a factor on Friday and Saturday, with sustained winds from the south to southeast at 15 to 25 mph, with gusts between 30 and 40 mph at times. 
Comments

First forecast for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill

12/2/2019

Comments

 
By Doug Schneider
Picture
I wish I could bring better news of a dry and sunny forecast for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill, but unfortunately, it looks like it will be a very wet weekend in Willows, California. 

A strong low pressure system will be tracking west across the Pacific through the week, and arrive in northern California just in time for the on-track action. As teams set up and start to practice on Thursday, clouds will be increasing but most of the day will remain dry, with just a slight chance of rain possible late in the day. The chance of rain will be increasing Thursday night, and by Friday there will be periods of on/off rain as a flow of deep moisture spreads into the area ahead of the low pressure system. This system will be slow-moving, so rain will continue to spread across the area through Friday night and Saturday. There will also be a good southerly breeze on Friday and Saturday, with sustained winds between 15 and 25 mph, with higher gusts. The total amount of rainfall through Saturday could be between 1 and 2 inches. However, it's still a long way out in the forecast, so the forecast rain amounts will come into better focus as we get closer to the weekend.

Rain is expected to start tapering off on Saturday night. This far out, timing is uncertain, but right now I expect that by daybreak Sunday morning, all the rain should be gone. Clouds will start to decrease as drier air moves in, and there may be a mix of sun and clouds by the checkered flag. 

Check back for updates to the forecast through the week.
Comments

    Social Feeds


    Instagram


    Authors

    Doug Schneider
    Scott Martin
    Stephen McCoy

    Harris Cooley 


    Partners

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    F1
    IGTC
    IMSA
    Indycar
    Le Mans
    MRTI
    NASA
    Outlooks
    Photos
    PWC
    Racecasts
    SCCA
    SRO
    Trans Am
    TUSC
    Verification
    Weather Education
    WEC


    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014



Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.