I don't really care what the weather is. While I would prefer a nice spring evening, as long as USA wins. I'll be fine.
Picked up a red waterproof jacket at Eastern Mountain Sports on clearance for $40. I'll be ready for wahtever....
This could be ugly. Might even have trouble flying into town, with thunderstorms predicted from 8am through 6pm. From Accuweather.com: Wednesday, Feb 11 High: 63 °F RealFeel®: 56 °F Winds gusting past 40 mph and mild with rain and a thunderstormWednesday Night, Feb 11 Low: 39 °F RealFeel®: 27 °F Winds gusting past 50 mph; cloudy with a touch of rain
Five days later the forecast now shows 58/36 with 80% chance of rain. probably mid to low 40s around the start of the game. The hour-by-hour forecast now makes it to 6pm Wednesday 2/11 6pm - 46 degrees, windy, 10% chance of rain. The hour-by-hour shows the rain at 70% from 7am-11am and 60% until 5pm then quickly dropping. If the forecast holds, we should be dry for the game, but the ground will be soaked.
According to my wife who called Crew Stadium this afternoon, they aren't going to use the grass parking areas and we're going to have to "park further away." I can't bash my wife for the lack of detail she was able to provide (she suggested we attend the game to celebrate our wedding anniversary) so if anyone knows what "park further away" means, I'd appreciate knowing about it. It's probably safe to assume traffic into the stadium parking lot could get backed up if they're doing something different than usual. FYI..I missed the first half of the USvCostaRica qualifier a couple of cycles ago because of backed up traffic into Crew Stadium.
If I had to guess, they will use the paved parking lot at the Historical Society (just to the SE of the stadium grounds) and the fairgrounds area (to the South of the stadium grounds). My VIP parking ticket is pretty much a golden ticket right now.
Yeah, I passed on the VIP parking when I ordered my tickets to the game. My wife was calling Crew Stadium to see if any were still available--they're not. Hindsite is 20/20.
The one mega-FAIL with Crew Stadium is its lack of paved parking. They will likely be sending everyone to the Historical Society, which is about 3/4 mile away. They have, in the past, had tractors (yes, tractors... remember this is the site of the Ohio State Fair as well) pulling bench seating to get people to the stadium. The other possibility is parking on the opposite side of 17th Ave in the State Fair areas. That is more unlikely, as I haven't seen it done before. Trust me though... MUCH BETTER to not park in that grass. There would be a ton of stranded cars stuck in the mud based on the amount of snow/ice that has melted in the past 3 days, plus the rain that is expected today and tomorrow.
The front is going to arrive sooner than originally expected. If it dips south, it's going to be colder. It seems like that's what they're expecting with the latest updates Anyone from the midwest knows what its like behind one of these spring weather pattern cold fronts...massive winds. Be sure to have enough layers on to cut down on the 25 mph winds. You can't do anything about the 50 mph gusts. if you're in the upper deck on the east side, you have my sympathies.
Yeah, the thunderstorms could be a problem.... I'm a little worried about the wind too. 60+ mph gusts with rain and t-storms..? Not exactly ideal football weather.
I'm flying my Toyota Tercel tomorrow leaving Arlington at 9 and arriving Columbus about 4 (depending on jet stream conditions). If anyone in DC area is freaked about flying let me know quick via PM. And I'm flying the 4-cylinder airship right back after the game. Shouldn't have to worry about any unscheduled landings in the Hudson unless I somehow stray off course...
If the local weather forecast is right (always a big if), it looks like the rain will stop before the start of the game, and we'll be in the clear for the game itself. Just have the wind to deal with, apparently.