Talladega Superspeedway Weather Forecast: Severe Weather Friday

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My biggest concern this race weekend at Talladega Superspeedway is the threat and potential for severe storms Friday afternoon and night. Because most of the qualifying and practice for Nationwide and Sprint Cup on Friday are earlier, there is a fairly good chance that all or most of the on-track activity gets complete. There could be a few isolated-to-scattered storms forming late Friday morning into the early afternoon, but the bulk of the threat seems to be toward evening and into the nighttime hours.

A few single cell storms will form during the late morning and early afternoon across western and central Alabama followed by a line of strong storms associated with a passing cold front that will march across the state. These storms have a high potential for large hail and damaging winds. Gust associated with some of these storms could reach near 70 mph. Winds alone can do significant damage to those camping in the Talladega infield. Also these storms could produce tornadoes.

The main threat will be from mid-to-late afternoon to around midnight. It is also important that if you are going to be camping at or near the track Friday you understand the difference between what a watch and a warning.

I expect in the afternoon watches of either severe thunderstorm or tornado will be issued on Friday. Watches are issued for large areas, sometimes including multiple states. A watch means "Watch Out" something COULD happen in or near that area over the scheduled period of time. Warning means a storm is severe or a tornado is OCCURRING NOW and you NEED TO SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

If you are camping or planning on attending any of Friday's schedule on track events I would recommend having a scanner that can access NOAA weather radio or have a NOAA All Hazards weather radio with you for the latest information (these run around $30 at Radio Shack). If you are camping, start thinking now what you will do if a tornado or severe storm is issued for the track. The last place you want to be is in a camper or an RV.

I will be tracking the weather and storms through the afternoon and evening. You will get updates from me via Twitter (@NASCAR_WXMAN) Facebook (My Fan Page) and my other main NASCAR WX-Man site.

I also highly recommend bookmarking Alabama Weather Blog.

Thursday:
(3:00 p.m. CDT) 4:00 p.m EDT
Nationwide Practice – Mostly sunny - temp: 81
(4:00 p.m. CDT) 5:00 p.m EDT
Nationwide Final Practice – Mostly sunny - temp: 81

Friday:
(11:00 a.m. CDT) 12:00 p.m EDT
Nationwide Qualifying – Partly Sunny, Isolated storms - temp: 72
(1:00 p.m. CDT) 2:00 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup Practice – Partly Sunny, isolated storms - temp: 79
(2:30 p.m. CDT) 3:30 p.m EDT
Sprint Final Practice – Poss strong to severe storms - temp: 81
(4:00 p.m. CDT) 5:00 p.m EDT
ARCA Race – Poss strong to severe storms - temp: 76

Saturday:
(10:30 a.m. CDT) 11:30 a.m EDT
Sprint Cup Qualifying – Partly Sunny - temp: 63
(2:00 p.m. CDT) 3:00 p.m EDT
Nationwide Race – Mostly sunny - temp: 69

Sunday:
(12:00 p.m. CDT) 1:00 p.m EDT
Sprint Cup Race – Sunny - temp: 73

Please follow me on Twitter @NASCAR_WXMAN for the latest race weather updates and information. Also visit my main weather page.