Weather Channel for Aug 31
- Thread starter Sparkplug
- Start date
If I’m running the show for a local weather station I’m putting a slight chance of rain every Saturday during football season, keep the eyes watching me all week.
The good thing about an 11 am opener is that you can keep pushing back the game later and later if need be.
Speaking for myself I use it for long term planning. For example if I have a race scheduled in Nebraska in 10 days I am constantly watching their forecast. Some of my races are pretty far away so even though the forecast may change I like to keep tabs on it.
There are 3 certainties in life:
1) Death
2) Taxes
3) Somebody starting a weather thread for the home opener about 10-14 days out predicting perfect weather. Gameweek comes and the forecast looks rainy.
1) Death
2) Taxes
3) Somebody starting a weather thread for the home opener about 10-14 days out predicting perfect weather. Gameweek comes and the forecast looks rainy.
We wouldn't even be talking about this if JP didn't schedule the game for 11:00 
Last edited:
This. If the grass lots close that would really suck. I just hope the filed doesn't get all torn up right out of the gate. That could make for some crappy field conditions the rest of the season. If that would be the case I will all but guarantee that CMC gets turf put in.
Eh, let's not jump the gun here. Drainage concerns are not the same as the bad turf issue at the end of last season. If I'm not mistaken, Ames hasn't had an unusual amount of rain lately, should stay dry all week, and, I thought, drains pretty well. So barring a deluge it should be fine, especially with two weeks to recover before the next game.
But if the turf fails again this year like it did a year ago, then I'd agree it's time to try something new. Though for an ag school with a very good turf program I would think going artificial would be a tough sell politically.
I'd be all for field turf in G7, however.
I know the field drains well but with enough moisture the field will still be soft...
Meh the whole grass field/ag school angle is overplayed. I love the grass field but if switching to turf means having a consistent playing surface sign me up. Last year was a mess and it could certainly happen again.
Are there any land grant schools that play on artificial turf in this country? We should shut down the university if we cannot maintain a grass playing surface...
I agree it will be fine and with this weather right now it’s good for the field. As long as we don’t have 20 inches in a season the field will be fine imo
No arguments here, but in 20+ years of a natural grass surface we've had real problems what, one time? Not yet a cause for alarm, IMO.
Because it's our job. The forecasted general pattern here hasn't changed much since this thread was first started, but small changes make a difference. The cool weather has been expected for a couple weeks - that's nice to plan for instead of sweltering heat. If the situation had been reversed, and well above average temperatures were expected, I'm sure you would want to know about that too.
Also, having an idea of model forecast trends over time is quite useful for us. Forecasts in the medium-long range aren't going to be constant... but if there's an observable trend in forecasts over time, we can use that to extrapolate and/or get a feel for confidence in a particular solution.
For this weekend... the trends are headed towards a more rainy solution. One of the more reliable forecast systems (Euro) produces an ensemble of 51 different "members". Two nights ago, about 50% of the members had rain Saturday. Yesterday it was about 75%. Now it's closer to 95%. On the other hand... the American model and its ensemble have remained constantly dry. Last night's run has only about 25% of its members producing any rain during the day at all.
To answer the original question posed here... the point of long range forecasts is to give a "best guess" based on the pattern and then hopefully gain more confidence as time progresses. Here, our pattern suggested cool (but probably dry)... but trends in the forecasted pattern suggest more potential for rain. If those trends continue over the next day or two... rain will become much more of a certainty.
I'm certainly not a turf management expert, but given the relatively dry weather we've seen the last month or so, I don't think one day of rain would wreck the field. The only way that would probably happen is if we get 2+ inches of rain during the game
I don't disagree but there has been rumblings that CMC would rather have turf. If he wants turf I do too...
They had the worst artificial turf I have ever played on. It might as well been just concrete.
Ugh, Saturday was looking so nice just a couple of days ago. Now it is literally the worst weather day expected of the next ten.
Why can't we have nice things?
Why can't we have nice things?