By Scott Martin.
Radar at 7:25 AM
So far this morning we are staring off with scattered showers and storms to our north, and those will continue to head in a northeasterly direction. What we will have to watch for is the development of any showers or storms to our southwest.
HRRR Simulated Radar Throughout The Day
The latest HRRR run shows a decent dry slot over the track from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM before more scattered showers move in ahead of a large rain mass. The good news with that rain is most of it stays light to moderate throughout the afternoon until you get around 2:00 PM before much heavier rainfall moves in. This is when we'll have a higher chance of thunder, but that threat still remains rather low at this point. Rainfall amounts before midday will be around 0.20 inches, but from midday to around 7:00 PM we could see up to 0.75 inches or more. We still could see delays this afternoon due to heavy rainfall.
There is no threat for severe weather today at the track, but there is a marginal risk for severe storms well off to the south. Like I said earlier, we may have some thunder. Please stay weather aware throughout the day, and heed the call from the PA if a weather alert is announced at the track. A good rule of thumb to remember... if you can hear thunder, you're close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning.
Another issue that we'll have to worry about is higher winds. NWS Birmingham has a Wind Advisory that will go into effect this afternoon at 1:00 PM for the area and will expire at 4:00 AM Monday. Winds will be averaging 15-25 MPH during that time with gusts up to 35 MPH. We could see gusts up to 40 MPH on top of the hills above the paddock area since the wind will be stronger in higher elevations.
So let's cross our fingers and hope that we can catch a break so we wouldn't have to wait until Monday to get the race in. The good news is that if we do have to wait until Monday, the forecast is much better with only a chance of showers from the back side of the system.
Radar will be up and running throughout the day on RacecastWeather.com.
There is no threat for severe weather today at the track, but there is a marginal risk for severe storms well off to the south. Like I said earlier, we may have some thunder. Please stay weather aware throughout the day, and heed the call from the PA if a weather alert is announced at the track. A good rule of thumb to remember... if you can hear thunder, you're close enough to the storm to be struck by lightning.
Another issue that we'll have to worry about is higher winds. NWS Birmingham has a Wind Advisory that will go into effect this afternoon at 1:00 PM for the area and will expire at 4:00 AM Monday. Winds will be averaging 15-25 MPH during that time with gusts up to 35 MPH. We could see gusts up to 40 MPH on top of the hills above the paddock area since the wind will be stronger in higher elevations.
So let's cross our fingers and hope that we can catch a break so we wouldn't have to wait until Monday to get the race in. The good news is that if we do have to wait until Monday, the forecast is much better with only a chance of showers from the back side of the system.
Radar will be up and running throughout the day on RacecastWeather.com.
