New Hampshire Motor Speedway NASCAR Weather Forecast: Off and On Threat of Rain

This is a very difficult forecast. A cut-off upper level low is positioned over the Great Lakes. This system continues to pump and funnel Gulf moisture from the southern United States into the northeast. Skies will remain cloudy with off-and-on waves of showers throughout the weekend. The wettest times appear to be Friday afternoon and evening and most of the day Saturday for New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Sunday is the most challenging forecast. Different models have different ideas on what to do with the cut-off upper level low in the Great Lakes. A few forecast models keep the system stalled back over Chicago for the weekend, minimizing the disturbances that could impact the Northeast over the weekend, especially Sunday and Monday. That is why the National Weather Service is keeping Sunday day. From my experiences, you can never trust these systems to do what you think they will do.

The best way to look at these storm systems is like a weather carousel. Instead of horses or animals moving around a spinning center, we have weak weather making disturbances that move around the center of circulation. These disturbances or bits of energy are very hard to forecast.

I am going to be cautiously optimistic for Sunday. I think there will be more dry time than wet, but the risk of a scattered or isolated showers can not be ruled out – nor should the threat be ignored. As things look right now, I think we can get some if not all the racing in on Sunday, but there may be a few speed bumps thrown in by Mother Nature along the way.

FRIDAY:
10 a.m EDT
Truck Practice – Mostly cloudy – temp: 65
11:30 a.m EDT
Sprint Cup Practice – Cloudy, small chance of sct’d shower – temp: 69
1:00 p.m EDT
Truck Final Practice – Cloudy chance of a shower– temp: 70
3:00 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup Qualifying – Cloudy, possible shower – temp: 72
SATURDAY:
9:30 a.m EDT
Sprint Cup Practice – Cloudy, rain shower likely – temp: 64
10:30 a.m EDT
Truck Qualifying – Cloudy, rain shower likely – temp: 66
11:30 a.m EDT
Sprint Cup Final Practice – Cloudy, rain shower likely – temp: 68
3:00 p.m EDT
Truck Race – Cloudy, rain shower likely – temp: 71
SUNDAY:
2:00 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup Race – Cloudy, chance of a scattered shower or storm – temp: 78