Game Day Weather
Someone asked if we could borrow last week's weather for this week - if only! It's going to be a raw day, no question about it. We have high pressure to the north, a stationary front along the coast, an upper level low over the SE U.S., and then of course Joaquin to the south as well. Being smooshed between a couple of systems will keep us in breezy NE winds, and that upper low is helping to bring some of Joaquin's moisture on up for more rain. I'd wear a couple layers and a poncho!
If you're traveling...
Tailgating
Rainy & windy! We actually have a flood watch through Saturday morning. Estimates show 2-3+" of rainfall overnight, and with another good 1/4" possible in the morning, be careful of ponding on the roads. I also wouldn't wear the nicest shoes, since there'll be plenty of puddles and mud around! You're probably going to want the hot coffee heading out the door too - temps will be in the low 50s to start our Saturday. Winds will remain up, steady in the upper teens (leaves and papers blow about, small branches sway) and there will be gusts into the low 30s (you can hear the wind whistle, it's hard to use an umbrella).
Kickoff
56 degrees to start the game. Cloudy skies with a pretty good chance it'll rain at some point in the first half. Good news is, showers look to break up a lot after lunch, so although they're still relatively likely, we may catch a break. Winds remain high, up around 17mph with gusts into the low 30s (empty garbage cans tip over, big trees sway).
Halftime
Anyone up for hot chocolate? Up a degree by the half, but we're going to keep the gray skies around, and still have a decent chance for showers. The positive side to a little rain is there doesn't look to be much lightning - ok, ok, I know that's not super awesome news, but we gotta take what we can get out of a day like this! Winds haven't budged.
Post-Game
Topping out in the upper 50s in College Park - a day below normal for them (go figure, nice weather returns this coming week). More scattered showers are possible throughout the rest of the day and overnight, but they do taper off quite a bit into Sunday. We stay in the mid 50s temperature-wise through the rest of the night, with NE winds staying up at 20mph, gusting in the low 30s. Go blue!
If you're staying home...
A gray day with scattered showers passing through. We're going to struggle to hit 50 degrees today, and we'll spend most of the day in the 40s. Breezy for us here too, with winds out of the ENE around 20mph, gusting to 30mph. We lose the gusts around dinner-time, but keep steady NE winds at 15mph into the late-night. Temperatures will remain in the mid 40s through the evening and overnight. Grab the jacket if you're headed out to watch the game!
Christina Burkhart is a meteorologist for ABC in Flint, MI. She grew up in Ann Arbor and associates Saturdays with Michigan football. Go Blue!
October 2nd, 2015 at 11:29 PM ^
Does Weather.com generally know what they are talking about? For college Park, they show a long stretch of time from noon to 6:00 with cloudy skies but no rain (only 20% to 25% chance).
October 3rd, 2015 at 1:42 AM ^
I personally always thought that weather.com, aka the weather channel was totally east coast biased. I always gelt like they only cared about the NE coast's weather. However, I think this article was geared towards Detroit weather. I know in past articles Christina featured weather for both home and away sights if the game was on the road. But I have been drinking right now, so I don't know. Go Blue!!
October 3rd, 2015 at 8:23 AM ^
weather.gov and click near Baltimore! Generally the smarter meteorologists work for the government since the pay is better than the private companies.
October 3rd, 2015 at 12:34 PM ^
If you're watching the Weather Channel or looking at their website at something written by a meteorologist, you're good. Be careful just looking at a certain city on the website or using the app - those are computer models, not a forecast by an actual person.
October 3rd, 2015 at 7:10 AM ^
Weather forecasting is the only job where you can be wrong 80% of the time and still have a job. But seriously, it's hard especially when the weather picture for an area is as complicated as the one present in the DC/East Coast region. There are lots of takes from competent forecasters. They're going to vary.
October 3rd, 2015 at 8:28 AM ^
are wrong more often and most make a hell of lot more money! One of the few professions where primitive equations are solved to forecast into the future. Number crunching leads to a lot of errors, most filtered but some get amplified.
October 3rd, 2015 at 12:46 PM ^
Thank you for saying that - this was a very difficult forecast thanks to all of the systems/dynamics involved! I actually discussed it with other mets in the DC/Baltimore area to get a better take on it, and figured with Joaquin involed an update would be needed today. And I try not to be wrong 80% of the time - pretty sure I'd lose my job if I was.
October 3rd, 2015 at 8:30 AM ^
The weather looks better this evening!
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