Coke 600 Weather Preview

I know there are many of you that will be going over the Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday for the running of the Coke 600. The question that continues to get asked of me is what is the weather expected to be like. I must be honest I don't like the chances of a full race being possible. Let's take a look at why I feel this way.

Starting with the good news if you are going to the track. Temperatures at 5 pm will be in the mid to upper 70's.

As we near sunset and the racing goes under the lights temps will be in the low 70's.

Unfortunately that's where the good news seems to end. I am looking at the possibility of showers and storms in the county and of course the area of the track between 5 and 6 pm. The green flag is set to waive around the 6 pm timeframe.

The real concern I have is the possibility of strong storms with small hail around sunset. 

There is enough evidence in the models to suggest storms could be pretty strong around the time of the green flag with the CAPE levels being at an increased level.

As far as accumulation goes. The race could potentially get started but I think it will be a tall order to finish all 600 miles.

Accumulations of around an inch are possible before the race even gets started. With the fact that it takes about two hours to dry the track things look even more bleak around sunset with accumulations of over two inches possible. Now remember hail potential can drive totals up as models can't differentiate between liquid and solid precipitation.

Of course I will provide updates throughout the weekend on weather conditions as they arise and change. As always thank you for following Rowan County Weather!