By Doug Schneider

There hasn't been much change in the expected weather this weekend for F1's visit to COTA. Rain has been a factor at the track for the past few days, although it does not seem heavy enough to really have a big impact on the practice sessions so far. I expect that will continue into Saturday. Rain is likely in the morning, and the track will likely be wet for the F3 Americas Series race. The chance of rain will decrease in the afternoon. Free practice 3 starts at 1 pm CDT, and it will be close as to whether rain will still be around at that time. There's a chance that rain could impact that practice session. However, I do feel fairly confident that rain will be gone in time for qualifying at 4 pm CDT. Rain amounts are expected to be light on Saturday morning, most likely between a tenth of an inch to two tenths (2 to 5 mm). 

The weather on Sunday looks nice, with a front pushing south of the area and dry air moving in from the north. It will be on the breezy side, with a north wind a 10 to 15 mph. Temperatures and humidity levels will feel very pleasant, with temperatures during the race near 70 degrees (lower 20s C).  

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.

By Scott Martin - ​@RaceWx4You

Forecast is still pretty similar from what I first put up earlier this week. Just made adjustments to the rain chances for each day. Stay weather aware as lightning may be an issue with storms. When thunder roars, go indoors. Good news is that rain will come to an end before noon on Sunday. If that happens, track may dry out and the slicks can be put to use. Radar is up and running.

By Scott Martin - ​@RaceWx4You

Looking at the latest forecast models for the Austin area throughout the weekend show that an approaching trough with an associated cold front will be making its way toward the area on Friday and Saturday. With that, along with high pressure and ridging to the east, this is allowing warm and moist gulf air to flow in from the southeast. Skies will be mostly cloudy, and as the trough gets closer, we will have a chance of isolated showers and thunderstorms on Friday and during the day on Saturday. Highs on both of these days will be in the lower 80s (27-28ºC). Winds will be out of the east-southeast around 5 MPH (8 KPH) on Friday, and out of the south at  5-10 MPH (8-16 KPH) on Saturday.

The trough arrives with the cold front on Saturday evening and will work its way through during the first half of Sunday. This will bring a decent chance of showers and thunderstorms for Saturday night through a good part of the daytime hours on Sunday. Unfortunately, rain chances at this time doesn’t appear to drop off until after 5:00 PM (2200 UTC). Winds will be quite breezy and cool as they will shift from the west to out of the north by the afternoon hours, averaging between 5-15 MPH (8-24 KPH) with gusts up to 20 MPH (32 KPH) possible. Rainfall amounts of 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch (12.7mm-19mm) are possible, and rain tires are almost a sure bet. Afternoon highs will be much cooler only reaching the upper 70s (24-25ºC).

Lightning may be an issue with any rain throughout the weekend, so please seek shelter if you hear thunder. The saying is “if you hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning.” So when thunder roars, go indoors. Radar will be up and running on our website starting on Friday and will be up throughout the weekend. Please feel free to share any of this information with friends or relatives that are headed out to COTA for the event.

By Doug Schneider

Scott and I both have a passion for weather and motorsports that began in childhood. We started forecasting weather for open wheel and sports car races a year ago as a means of combining two of our favorite things. We're excited that we can be a help to fans, teams, and race officials by doing what we love through Racecast Weather. I also love weather photography and racing photography, so here's a collection of some of my favorite photos that combine the two.

Credit for these photos goes to David Yowe (dlymotorsportimages.com), John Dagys and the photographers at Sportscar365, John Thawley (johnthawley.com), and the F1 Fanatic photo collection (f1fanatic.co.uk)