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

First forecast for the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour

1/29/2018

Comments

 
By Doug Schneider - @Race4caster
Picture
Picture
Click on images to enlarge

The Bathurst 12 Hour is one of my favorite races of the year, and one reason is that it's a rare chance for me to do a forecast in the Southern Hemisphere. It's a little different since winds around low and high pressure system circulate in the opposite direction from the Northern Hemisphere, so a south wind brings colder air and a north wind brings warmer air. 

The general pattern for late this week across Australia will be a high pressure system off the southern coast, near the Great Australian Bight, and west of Tasmania. It will remain fairly stationary through the weekend, but slight changes in the flow across New South Wales and its flow over the Blue Mountains will bring varying rain chances at Mount Panorama each day.

On Friday there will be southeasterly flow off the Tasman Sea into New South Wales. As moist air off the ocean hits the Blue Mountains, plus some afternoon heating, some showers will develop. I expect that the showers will stay mainly over the higher terrain of the mountains, and are not likely to move far enough west to reach Bathurst. Still, I did put a very low chance of a shower in for Friday afternoon because I can't completely rule it out at this point. 

On Saturday, the flow turns to a slightly more southerly direction, and gets a little stronger. Showers will probably develop over the Blue Mountains again in the late morning to early afternoon, but with the stronger flow, they are more likely to reach Bathurst on Saturday than on Friday. So I have a higher chance of rain on Saturday afternoon.

On Sunday the high pressure ridge drifts a little closer to New South Wales, and this should have the effect of weakening the southeast winds. With weaker winds running over the Blue Mountains, there is less of a chance that showers will develop, so I have a dry forecast for Sunday.

Temperatures at last year's race were quite hot, but that shouldn't be a problem this year, thanks to the southeasterly winds. Temperatures will be quite pleasant each day, with highs in the mid to upper 70s (mid 20s C) on Friday and Saturday, and near 80 (27 C) on Sunday.

Check back through the week for updates, and be sure to follow our social media feeds, which you can find on the top of the sidebar.
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.