By Doug Schneider
The weather is looking good for the 69th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Conditions will start out hot and humid, then a cold frontal passage Thursday night will bring drier and cooler conditions on Friday and Saturday. Over the past few days, the models have been in good agreement with this pattern, and have not changed much from one run to the next, so my confidence in this forecast is high.
High pressure will be located off the east coast of Florida by the middle of the week, which will produce a warm southerly flow across the Peninsula. With mostly sunny skies, temperatures will reach near 90 degrees on Wednesday. In my forecasting experience with Sebring, I have noticed that the track area is often a few degrees warmer than surrounding area away from all the concrete, so my temperature forecast is probably higher than what you might see from other sources (which is an advantage to using our track-specific forecasts!).
This hot and humid pattern will continue into Thursday. A low pressure system will be moving across the eastern U.S. on Thursday, and this will create breezy conditions in the afternoon. Gusts of 25-30 mph may be possible at times.
A cold front will move across the Florida Peninsula Thursday night. With the nighttime passage, instability will be lacking, so it won't pack much of a punch. I don't even expect any thunderstorms, just a few isolated showers here and there that might produce a couple hundredths of an inch of rain. The main question is the timing of the showers, and I think the most likely period for a shower will be between 2 am and 8 am. This timing makes it unlikely that any racing action will be affected. If the models trend slower with the front over the next few days, then it will be more potential for impacts Friday morning.
A drier air mass will build into the area through Friday, with clearing skies and lower humidity expected. Saturday looks like beautiful weather for the main event, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s to around 80.
Check back through the week for updates to the forecast.
High pressure will be located off the east coast of Florida by the middle of the week, which will produce a warm southerly flow across the Peninsula. With mostly sunny skies, temperatures will reach near 90 degrees on Wednesday. In my forecasting experience with Sebring, I have noticed that the track area is often a few degrees warmer than surrounding area away from all the concrete, so my temperature forecast is probably higher than what you might see from other sources (which is an advantage to using our track-specific forecasts!).
This hot and humid pattern will continue into Thursday. A low pressure system will be moving across the eastern U.S. on Thursday, and this will create breezy conditions in the afternoon. Gusts of 25-30 mph may be possible at times.
A cold front will move across the Florida Peninsula Thursday night. With the nighttime passage, instability will be lacking, so it won't pack much of a punch. I don't even expect any thunderstorms, just a few isolated showers here and there that might produce a couple hundredths of an inch of rain. The main question is the timing of the showers, and I think the most likely period for a shower will be between 2 am and 8 am. This timing makes it unlikely that any racing action will be affected. If the models trend slower with the front over the next few days, then it will be more potential for impacts Friday morning.
A drier air mass will build into the area through Friday, with clearing skies and lower humidity expected. Saturday looks like beautiful weather for the main event, with mostly sunny skies and highs in the upper 70s to around 80.
Check back through the week for updates to the forecast.
