Weather Forecast for the Western Michigan game

As most of you know, my Purdue degree, and my current graduate studies, is in Atmospheric Science and Meteorology. With that, I’m going to try something out by giving you guys a personalized forecast for Purdue Football games. I may extend this to away games as well, but for now I will focus on home games.

In my forecasts, I will focus on the following areas:

• Pre-game (starting at 7am, for all tailgaters and Breakfast Clubbers)
• Kickoff
• Halftime (~1.5 hours after kickoff)
• End of game (~3 hours after kickoff)
• Post-game (3-5 hours after the game has ended)

I will most likely include an overall outlook at the beginning or end of the forecast. In each of these, I will forecast the following items:

• Temperature (note: I will not give an extra temperature, but rather a range of where the temperature will be)
• Chances of precipitation (and type)
• Wind
• Approximate cloud cover (this will probably end up being wrong most of the time)

You will also see a "Last Updated" section at the bottom of each forecast. Sometimes I work on these a few days in advance and update them as the week goes on. With that, you know if I worked on the forecast on Monday, but haven't looked at it, or if it is a fresh forecast as it gets published on Friday. But also if I know the weather is changing, I can update after it is published and you will know. I can't promise you that my forecast will be right (Prof. Baldwin, please don't get upset about my forecasting skills...), but I will use my best judgement when it comes to these forecasts.

Overall Outlook

It will feel humid and a bit hot most of the day, with highs in the mid 80s and a steady flow of wind from the south. It could feel like 90 degrees middle of the afternoon, with a good chance of rain throughout the day.

Pre-Game

It looks to be a muggy morning, as temperatures at sunrise will be hovering around 70 degrees, with the relative humidity in the mid-80%. There is a 40% chance of rain with mostly cloud skies, and winds will be coming out of the south to southwest between 7-15mph throughout the morning. Your walk to the stadium will feel a little warmer, as temperatures approach 80 degrees before kickoff with a dew point the upper 60s to  lower 70s (quite moist).

Kickoff

Temperatures look to be at or near 80 degrees, which could go above or below that depending on the cloud cover, which should be mostly cloudy with some openings to let the sun in. Chances for rain are still about 50/50. If it does rain, it shouldn't stick around too long as we are mostly seeing pop ups cells lately that hit and move away after a few minutes. Winds will be coming out of the southwest around 15 mph. It should be interesting how this impacts the play on the field now that the south bleachers are gone.

Halftime

Winds will begin to come out of the south to southwest around 15 mph, but could start gusting to over 20 mph throughout the rest of the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the lower 80s, but will feel like the mid-80s in the stadium. Cloud cover remains mostly cloudy, as chances for precipitation dance along the 50/50 line. There could be storms popping up all around the area, we'll have to see if one of them ends up hitting the game...

End of Game

Temperatures at the end of the game should be in the mid-80s, while it feel like it is in upper-80s/almost 90. Chances for rain increase to about 60%, with winds continuing to come out of the south around 15mph and mostly cloud skies.

Post-Game

Temperatures will increase into the mid-to-upper-80s, but it certainly will like it is over 90 degrees. Chances for rain will continue to increase as the day continues, with the great chances after 6pm at 70%. Expect a shower or a storm sometime throughout the day if you are staying in the area, and you may observe some rain on your drive home, depending on where you are going.

Almanac for West Lafayette on August 30th, 2014

• Average high: 83° F
• Average low: 61° F
• Record High: 93° F (1964)
• Record Low: 42° F (1986)
• Sunrise: 7:13am
• Solar Noon: 1:48pm
• Sunset: 8:23pm

Last Updated: 8/29/2014 at 2:57pm

Note: The atmosphere is a viscous and continuous fluid, and conditions can change quickly and unexpectedly. This forecast may not be correct within the next few hours because of that. Make sure to stay up to date on current conditions and updating forecasts.