New Yankee Stadium Opening Day Weather Forecast

The day is finally here. Today, the New York Yankees officially christen their new $1.6 billion dollar stadium in the Bronx. Last year, opening day was rained out and it caused headaches for many people who make coming to the stadium for the first game of the season a yearly tradition. This year, we have Steve DiMartino of NYNJPAWeather.com contributing exclusive game day forecasts for games that matter the most, so you are prepared for the elements.

New York has been very lucky with weather conditions and opening stadiums! Today, high pressure will provide excellent weather conditions with clear skies, light and variable winds, and seasonable temperatures. Through the game temperatures will range from 59 to 62 degrees range so a light jacket or light sweater would be a good idea. Weather conditions should have little if any impact on the game.

That last sentence is music to our ears. If you are heading out to the big ballpark in the Bronx, rest assured that the weather will be beautiful. Thanks again to Steve for stopping in and doing that for us. It helps us to forgive him for being a Mets fan. Enjoy the game everyone. Read the full post, after the jump

What Happens If Friday's Exhibition Against The Cubs Is Rained Out?

Unfortunately, as is the case with most early Spring games in the Northeast, there is a chance that Friday's game will be affected by weather. As of now, the Yankee ticket office is not sharing their contingency plan, if one exists. When asked about the weather situation, our source in the ticket office replied "I hope it doesn't rain Friday, I'm not sure what the plan would be."

It is unlikely that the Yankees would schedule an exhibition double-header on Saturday, so refunds or credits to other games would have to be offered. That being said, how real is the threat of the game being canceled on Friday? Lets once again defer to Steve DiMartino from NYNJPAWeather.com:

The low level jet is expected to supply additional lifting and moisture transport at 850 and 950 MB by Friday afternoon as well. North of the warm front, expect scattered showers with a period of steady moderate rain in the afternoon. However, south of the warm front, a break in the precipitation is expected with the potential for even a break in the overcast. Should this happen, there is potential for temperatures to spike quickly above forecasted high temperatures. A line of showers and strong to severe thunderstorms will follow the cold front passage by the afternoon. The thunderstorms will be capable of heavy downpours, strong wind gusts, frequent lightning, small hail, and possibly even an isolated tornado. The upper level set up is very similar to last Sunday.

It will all depend on the timing of the steady rain, and then the thunderstorms. As of now, it looks like the batch of steady, game canceling rain will come through first, and we will be left with scattered thunderstorms in the evening. If we had to guess now, batting practice has a high chance of be canceled, but the game will occur - with the potential for the tarp making its new Yankee Stadium debut if some of those heavy thunderstorms come through. The good news is that weather looks great for the workout day on Thursday, with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the lower 60's.

Obviously, even two days out, plenty of things can change with the weather. Be sure to check in with Steve over at NYNJPAWeather.com and you can always come back here on Friday for the latest updates and the radar on the sidebar. Read the full post, after the jump

Will Weather Be A Factor For The Opening Of New York's New Stadiums?

UPDATE (3/28 9:51 PM): Steve over at NYNJPAWeather.com paints an ugly picture of the weather for the next 12 hours:

Meanwhile, locations to the north of the warm front will have very heavy rain. The process of lifting the low level jet stream, which will supply the forecast area with plenty of moisture from the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic, along with significant lifting via upper level dynamics will support wide spread heavy rainfall over the northern Philadelphia metro and almost all of the New York City metro. Small river and urban flooding will be an issue in these areas and caution will need to be taken when driving tomorrow morning.

So while cloudy to partly cloudy skies can be expected through the rest of the day, a very active period of weather can be expected late tonight through early tomorrow morning with the potential for flooding, severe thunderstorms, wind damage, and even an isolated tornado.

Luckily, he is still referring to the active weather as "through early tomorrow morning." That means it still could be over before the first event at Citi Field is set to occur.

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Anyone who has read this blog for the past two years knows that we have a strange interest in the weather. Weather isn't anything we can control. but it is extremely interesting to watch weather patterns unfold and see how they affect people.

Unfortunately for fans holding tickets to the first exhibition games at Citi Field on Sunday and Yankee Stadium on Friday, the weather seems to have some interesting things in store for us this week. For analysis of this evolving weather pattern, we will defer to Steve DiMartino, the talented independent meteorologist in charge of NYNJPAWeather.com. Lets first see what Steve has to say about how the weather will affect the first game at Citi Field on Sunday March 29, featuring the college teams of St. Johns and Georgetown:

Obviously, this should all lead to some impressive rainfall by Sunday morning. Combine these factors with the evolution of an occluded front (discussed last night in this post), and the set up is prime to produce heavy rainfall over the forecast area with the potential for some minor small stream and urban flooding. Rainfall amounts of an inch to two inches will be possible by Sunday afternoon as the cold front clears the forecast area. The heaviest rainfall is expected tomorrow morning between the hours of 4 AM and 11 AM as the cold front enhances the lifting over the entire region which will be seen as an elevated line of heavy showers and thunderstorms. Wind damage may be an isolated threat with these storms.

While that certainly is not good news for people planning to arrive early at Citi Field when gates open, it does give some hope that the game will actually be played. That being said, most people probably don't even care about the game on the field - they just want to roam around the new ballpark. One thing to keep an eye on is whether or not the Mets protect their new field and call the game early. They probably don't want college kids running around, tearing up their brand new field, if they can at all avoid it. If you are like us and plan on checking out the new park tomorrow morning, be sure to check Mets.com for any cancelation information before heading out.

For the majority of our readers who don't care about the Mets or their fancy new ballpark, we also have some early news about how the weather will affect the first events at the new Yankee Stadium. We recognize that the first real event at Yankee Stadium is the workout day on Thursday, April 2. That being said, the open workout is during a workday and most of the tickets were unattainable to the public. Therefore we will focus mainly on the early indications for the weather next Friday, April 3. For the record, Thursday's weather looks like it will be sunny with seasonable temperatures. Now, lets see what Steve DiMartino has to say about the weather for the first exhibition game - Yankees vs. Cubs on Friday, April 3:

The pattern that is going to unfold through this weekend is a typical spring time pattern as the trough that has been positioned over the East the past few months continues to retrograde to the West.

Another disturbance will move through on Friday with scattered showers and a period of steady rain, but will also move quickly through the forecast area.

It is important not to get too worked up about weather more than five days out. As Steve points out at the top of his website "Focus on 5 days at a time and you won't go nuts." Everyone should recognize that this time of year is the rainy season in the Northeast, and weather is likely to affect many of the events scheduled at the new stadiums in New York City.

Just keep an eye on reputable Tri-State weather sources such as Steve's afformentioned site, and the National Weather Service forecasts (found at great websites such as wunderground.com). If possible, avoid Accu-Weather and The Weather Channel as their model is dependent upon making money and not on giving the most accurate weather forecasts. Read the full post, after the jump