Major League Baseball Is Back This Week: Here’s Where The Forecast Could Be A Foul Ball
· Yahoo Sports
You might already be singing “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” for MLB’s Opening Day this week, but rainy weather is also planning to attend a few games.
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The good news for many baseball fans is that Thursday’s forecast is dry for most of the home openers happening across the country, but there are a few potential problem spots in the Great Lakes as a clipper system moves through the region.
Washington Nationals At Chicago Cubs (2:20 p.m. EDT)
The game with the highest risk of storm-related disruptions will be the Washington Nationals vs the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Thursday afternoon as thunderstorms move through the area. The start of the game should be decent, but the chance of rain and thunderstorms increases through the afternoon.
Chicago is under a slight risk of severe weather from the Storm Prediction Center on Thursday evening, with even the possibility of baseball-sized hail and EF2 tornadoes.
For the Chicagoans who are White Sox fans and planning on a trip up to Milwaukee for the White Sox vs Brewers match-up, good news: scattered showers are expected Thursday afternoon, but American Family Field has a retractable roof in case any raindrops try to fall on that parade.
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Boston Red Sox At Cincinnati Reds (4:10 p.m. EDT)
There is rain in Cincinnati’s forecast on Thursday, but timing is going to be key. There are a few scattered showers pre-sunrise, but the skies will clear throughout the rest of the day before the thunderstorms arrive Thursday night.
Current timing is showing the storms kicking off closer to midnight, so that should be late enough to allow for a full ballgame and some thorough post-game celebrations for the winning team’s fans.
Tampa Bay Rays At St. Louis Cardinals (4:15 p.m. EDT)
St. Louis is in a similar boat to Cincinnati on Thursday, but the chances of a raindrop interrupting America’s favorite pastime are even lower. Isolated showers and thunderstorms are likely to hold off until the overnight hours, so the game should be a-ok precipitation-wise.
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Where Hydration Is Key
It may be March, but temperatures are going to be feeling a bit more like the dog days of summer for some teams on their season openers.
St. Louis is facing a high in the 90s on Thursday with temperatures nearly 40 degrees above average. This could even be a record-breaking forecast, since the current daily high temperature record for March 26 in the Gateway to the West is 87 degrees.
While St. Louis is the only potential record breaker on the list of opening day games, it’s not the only potential scorcher. Temperatures will be in the 80s in Cincinnati and Houston, so hydration is key. If you’re heading to a game, go ahead and order a bottle of water with your Cracker Jacks.
Sara Tonks is a content meteorologist with weather.com and has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from Georgia Tech in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences along with a master’s degree from Unity Environmental University in Marine Science.