NASCAR Richmond International Raceway Weather Forecast 2012: Rain Very Likely Saturday Night

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ends its regular season under the lights at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday night. The only problem is Mother Nature may have other plans.

Weather is not a concern for today’s scheduled practices, qualifying and this evening’s Nationwide Series race. Skies will be mostly sunny and it will be hot with daytime highs in the low 90s. It will be mostly clear for the Nationwide race with temperatures in the 70s.

Saturday will start off dry and partly sunny, but don’t let that fool you. Rain is definitely in the forecast for Saturday evening’s Sprint Cup Series race. A cold front moving through Virginia on Saturday will spread showers and storms late in the afternoon and evening. Some of these storms could be strong to possibly severe.

The above graphic is from the Storm Prediction Center and their outlook for severe weather on Saturday. Richmond is located in the yellow shaded region indicating a slight risk for severe storms.

Forecasts are very consistent, showing rain associated with the cold front arriving in Richmond sometime between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. EDT and clearing out between 10 p.m. and 12 a.m EDT. Based on the information, I’d say we have a 10 percent likelihood of seeing a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night.

It could come down to how late NASCAR is willing to start the race if the rain clears out around 10 p.m.

If the race is postponed until Sunday, the weather will be drier and cooler with partly sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 70s to near 80 degrees.

SUNDAY
Partly sunny, cooler – High: 80