In 10 seasons of forecasting NASCAR weather, this may be the first time I’ve had to talk about significant accumulating snow for a race weekend. There have been a few early Martinsville race weekends where snow appeared before the race weekend, but I can’t recall looking at possible accumulation leading up to the main Cup event. The spring race in 2018, we are looking at the possibility of accumulating snow at Martinsville Speedway Saturday night into Sunday morning.
Martinsville Speedway weather: SNOW in a NASCAR weekend forecast?
How does snow play into a NASCAR weekend weather forecast?
There are a lot of forecasts right now leading up to the weekend across Southern Virginia. There was one sent to me on Twitter showing 5 to 10 inches of snow for Martinsville. I will tell you I don’t see that much snow when I look at the weather.
I have a lot of experience forecasting snow, from my nearly two years in the Dakotas, eight years in the Great Lakes with lake effect snow, and now seven years in Idaho forecasting mountain snow. I feel confident about my ability to forecast snow in Southern Virginia. I’ve been working closely with my NASCAR weather colleague @RaceWeather on Twitter, meteorologist Aaron Studwell, and we agree that the snowfall potential Saturday night into Sunday for Martinsville Speedway is from a coating to maybe two inches.
Looking at the forecast data and comparing our information with the National Weather Service, the forecast feels pretty solid for late Saturday into Sunday morning. The good news is most of the snow ends during the morning Sunday and precipitation pushes out but it remains chilly with temperatures in the upper 30s and low 40s.
Odds of racing the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series race on Sunday is around 60 percent with possible delays.
As for Saturday’s Cup practices and qualifying along with the Camping World Truck Series race, the odds are around 35 to 45 percent for Saturday’s on track activity. Odds start to drop as you get closer to Saturday evening and night. While not calling anything a wash, the truck race is looking like it could be in doubt. We will have updates as we get more information.
Friday is the best day of the weekend. While not all that warm, there will be sunshine and temperatures in the 50s.
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