A massive blast of cold air will make for one of the coldest 24 Hours of Daytona races in history – Heading towards zero degrees overnight
The worst predictions from the week are being confirmed. Just in time for the start of the 60th running of the 24 Hours of Daytona (All the race info!), it looks set to be one of the coldest in history. The cold snap is now confirmed in all weather models, the only question is: How cold will it really be?
Daytona Beach will be hit by a cold air flow from the northeast during the night from Friday to Saturday (Saturday morning German time). This brings super cold, continental air from Canada past the Appalachians and onto the Florida Peninsula.
The culprit is a large low-pressure area off the east coast of the USA. As depressions rotate counterclockwise, the cold air is tapped in Newfoundland and sent all the way down to Florida. The low will move north over the weekend, so temperatures will rise again after the race.
Such cold air intrusions are a regular occurrence in Florida during the winter, but the expression is remarkable. More optimistic forecasts predict lows of two degrees plus. The more negative ones see the thermometer below freezing, with the most pessimistic models talking about -5 degrees (22 degrees Fahrenheit).
Break out the coats🧥, boots👢, and scarfs🧣… it's about to get cold this weekend!#IMSA #Rolex24 #Sportscar #Cold #FLorida #Orlando #Sanford #LakeMary #DaytonaBeach pic.twitter.com/loesP7rHTE
— David Zambrano REALTOR® (@DavidZREALTOR) January 28, 2022
The highs will struggle to reach ten degrees during the day. Saturday’s start will be seven to ten degrees, with the cold peaking on Sunday morning. On Sunday, it may get back into double digits for the finish. The air will be dry, the sky cloudless. It will be a complete contrast to the warm and humid conditions in the practice sessions.
IMSA has already responded by allowing the LMP3 teams to reduce the size of the cooling vents with tape. This is normally prohibited because of the resulting aerodynamic advantages. However, the engine and gearbox are in danger of running too cold at these temperatures.
The coldest edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona was until long 1966 at the first edition of the race over the distance twice around the clock. In the victory of Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby on their Ford GT40, the mercury dropped to a mark of 28 degrees Fahrenheit (-2.2 degrees Celsius). It also went down to freezing in 1980 and 2000.
