- NASCAR’s season opening race Sunday is likely to be wet.
- Rain is likely at times in central Florida through the weekend.
- Drier weather is expected by Monday.
Rain is likely to be a headache for the Daytona 500 as a weekend-long wet pattern settles over Florida.
While the main race is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. EST, Cup Series and qualifying races are also scheduled on Saturday from late morning into the evening. One race has already been rescheduled.
Right Now
Rain is gradually spreading across Florida and will become widespread this weekend.
The Forecast
Saturday: We expect showers to move in as soon as Saturday morning, with rain becoming increasingly likely by afternoon and evening. Some of the rain could be heavy at times.
Sunday: Rain is likely to continue through much of Sunday and Sunday night, along with northerly winds. Locally heavy rain is possible.
Monday: There’s some uncertainty in when the rain chance moves out. For now, the best chance of showers will be in the morning, with potentially drier weather by afternoon. Gusty north winds will linger.
(192-hours: Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)
What That Could Mean For The Race
The race would stop if it rains.
That’s because stock car tires have no tread to grip the rain-slickened road like the tires on your vehicle. Even light rain or drizzle could make the track slippery and dangerous for cars with bald tires moving at over 100 mph.
NASCAR uses large air compressors mounted on pickup trucks known as Air Titans to dry the track once the rain stops. That process can take anywhere from an hour to 2.5 hours, depending on conditions such as winds, sunshine and humidity.
According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Sunday’s race could be postponed to Monday if it can’t be finished until 1 a.m. or later.
There have been several delays and postponements in recent years.
Three years ago, the race began on Sunday but didn’t finish until after midnight Monday. In 2020, the race had to resume and finish on Monday night. And in 2012, a finish just after midnight Tuesday morning resulted after rain wouldn’t allow the race to resume until Monday night.
The cars of Kaz Grala and Brad Keselowski sit covered during a rain delay during the Daytona 500 on Feb. 14, 2021, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach. Florida.
(David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Why So Wet?
An active subtropical jet stream, deep moisture and a waffling frontal boundary are combining to bring several days of rain to the Sunshine State.
It’s a pattern Floridians have been dealing with repeatedly this winter, despite this typically being the state’s drier time of year. That’s due in part to a strong El Niño boosting the subtropical jet stream responsible for steering storms along the southern tier of the U.S.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at weather.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. His lifelong love of meteorology began with a close encounter with a tornado as a child in Wisconsin. He completed a Bachelor’s degree in physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then a Master’s degree working with dual-polarization radar and lightning data at Colorado State University. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on X (formerly Twitter), Threads, Facebook and Bluesky.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives.
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