By Doug Schneider The weather looks great for the INDYCAR season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg and the Albert Whitted Airport. High pressure will be over the western Atlantic Ocean to start the weekend, providing a warm southerly flow and mostly sunny skies on Friday. As a cold front approaches from the northwest, winds will pick up on Saturday, along with increasing clouds. A few light showers with this front will be in the St. Pete area late Saturday night, but the front is expected to pass through the area around daybreak. No impacts are expected to any of Sunday's on-track activity. Sunday will start off with some clouds, but dry air will build in, and by the time the race begins in the afternoon, it will be mostly sunny. Northwest winds of 10-20 mph can be expected during the race.
By Doug Schneider Overall, nice weather is likely for the 2024 INDYCAR season opener in St. Petersburg. Although there's a chance of showers or thunderstorms on Sunday, the chance is low and the impacts are likely to be minimal.
A cold front will move across Florida in the middle of the week, followed by high pressure that will build in late in the week. This high pressure area will provide nice conditions for racing on Friday and Saturday. Temperatures will be warm and skies will be mostly to partly sunny both days. Sunday is a little more uncertain as another cold front approaches from the northwest. Early indications are that the front will be losing its punch as to tracks southeast, and by the time it reaches St. Pete, any precipitation associated with it may have fallen apart or become scattered to isolated. If there are showers or storms in the St. Pete area on Sunday, they should be short-lived and scattered, so the chance of one at the track is low, only about 20%. I'll keep an eye on this system through the week, so check back for updates. By Doug Schneider The end of 2023 is upon us, and that means it's time for our annual gallery of the best photos combining our two favorite things - weather and racing. 2023 was a great season for race fans, with tons of action and excitement in IMSA, IndyCar, F1, and SRO World Challenge. We can't wait for the 2024 season to start, and we will be back in a few weeks with the forecast for the Roar Before the 24 at Daytona. You can see our full schedule of race forecasts in the link at the top of the page. We are making a couple changes for next year. Scott Martin is stepping down from our team due to a new job and time commitments. Scott helped me start Racecast Weather 9 years ago, and he will be greatly missed. As a result, we will not be forecasting for SRO World Challenge America races. However, we will continue to have forecast for SRO's IGTC races. Harris will continue to provide you with forecast for Formula One. Stephen will return and focus on forecasts for the IndyCar season. And I will be back with forecasts for all IMSA events. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Thanks for following! By Scott Martin Looking at the latest model runs for this weekend, we may have to put up with a passing storm on Saturday as a cold front will be working through the area, but will make it feel much nicer and less humid on Sunday. The good news is that the models are not too bullish on the rain activity on Saturday, but convective storms are usually not handled well by the models sometimes. I'll keep a chance of storms in the forecast on Saturday afternoon and early evening.
Sunday will be a very nice day with temperatures in the lower 80s and low humidity. There will be a mix of sun and clouds, and I just can't rule out an isolated shower during the afternoon to early evening, but with the amount of dry air in place, chances will be very, very low. By Doug Schneider It's going to be a hot week in the St. Louis area, but the good news is that cooler temperatures will arrive in time for the Bommarito 500 activities. High temperatures at WWTR on Thursday and Friday will be near or above 100 degrees. On Saturday morning, a front is expected to move through the area, which will shift winds to the northeast and bring a cooler and less humid air mass. With moisture being very limited, no rain is expected with the front at this time, but this will need to be monitored for changes through the week. Sunday will be a very nice day to be at the track, with highs in the lower 80s and comfortable humidity levels. There will be a northeast breeze both days, between 10 and 15 mph.
By Doug Schneider There will be a few rounds of showers in Indianapolis over the weekend, but the timing of these showers looks favorable for little to no impacts on the racing at IMS.
An upper level disturbance will be crossing the Illinois/Indiana area Friday night, and thunderstorms are likely to occur during the overnight hours. There is a small chance that some showers could linger around Speedway after sunrise, but they should be gone by the time of the first on-track session (Xfinity practice) at 9:35 am EDT. The rest of Saturday should be dry and mostly sunny, with temperatures reaching into the mid 80s. There could be a few showers in the area Saturday evening as a front moves into the area, after the end of the Xfinity Pennzoil 150. Another upper level disturbance will cross the Mississippi River on Sunday, and track east through the afternoon. Showers with this system are expected to move into central Indiana late in the day or during the evening, most likely after the end of the Verizon 200. If the timing of this system shifts a little earlier, it could impact the late stages of the race, but I think the chance of that happening is low. By Doug Schneider Overall, good weather is expected at IMS for the combined INDYCAR and NASCAR events for Brickyard Weekend. The main risk of rain at the track will come on Friday night as an upper level trough swings across the area. The most likely timing of this rain should not affect any on-track action, however a few showers will be possible into Saturday morning. The chance of rain should be gone by the time the INDYCAR race starts at 2 PM. Sunday's weather looks great for the NASCAR race, with mostly sunny skies. Temperatures through the weekend will peak in the mid to upper 80s.
By Doug Schneider The forecast continues to look great for racing this weekend at Iowa Speedway. I don't expect any weather impacts to the on-track action. However, there could potentially be some impacts to the concert on Saturday.
The prevailing weather pattern across Iowa will be a northwest flow through the weekend. This will provide mainly dry and comfortable temperatures and humidity. However, the models are indicating that a disturbance in this northwest flow will move across Iowa late Saturday into Saturday night. It may bring isolated to scattered thunderstorms to the area late in the afternoon and evening. While the timing won't affect the race, the Kenny Chesney concert that starts at 4:30 pm could potentially be affected, depending on the timing of storms. I don't know how long the concert will be, but right now, the most likely time period for storms is 6 pm to midnight. If that timing shifts a little earlier, then it could potentially affect the concert. |
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