Mother Nature and the hockey gods seem to have gotten together to bless the Lightning for their first home outdoor game in Tampa on Sunday.
From the time the NHL awarded the Lightning a Stadium Series game last year, naysayers pointed at the average temperatures for Feb. 1 and shouted, “No way!”
But it turns out, the weather could be ideal for outdoor hockey at Raymond James Stadium.
“The timing for the Stadium Series, to me, looks to be perfect,” said Fox 13 Tampa Bay chief meteorologist Paul Dellegatto. “I actually think, in some respects, it may be somewhat uncomfortable for people who just don’t like to sit out in the cold. … I can’t say for sure, we’ll see, but it may end up being the coldest winter day (this season) on Sunday. It’ll be close, and probably one of the coldest Feb. 1 on record in Tampa Bay.”
It was in the low 80s just a few days ago, but a cold front has swept into the area that local weather predictors expect will make for excellent conditions at puck drop just after 7 p.m. In the meantime, a temperature-controlled tent at RayJay is keeping the ice game ready.
“This weekend, crazy as it is, it might very well be in the 30s at some point in the game, maybe early on in the game,” said Tampa Bay 28 chief meteorologist Denis Phillips. “And if that’s the case, you’re not going to get a lot of (ice) melting.
“It’s crazy to think, but for decades, this might be the best weekend to ever play an outdoor hockey game. So clearly, the Lightning have made good life choices, because they are going to luck out more than I think anyone ever dreamed they could.”
Phillips said he’s been in contact with Lightning CEO Steve Griggs, updating him on the forecast, even sending him one GFS model he saw that called for potential snow flurries in Florida on Sunday.
“Is there a slight chance there could be a couple of snow flurries in Central Florida Saturday night, Sunday morning? There is,” Phillips said. “The models are hinting that if the storm were to get really strong east of us and draw in some colder air, there’s a chance. Like the old expression, so you say there’s a chance? Yeah, there is a slight chance, but overall, I don’t think so.
“I think they’re going to be real happy with just the fact that it’s going to be as cold as it is. I’m not so sure people in Gasparilla are going to be so happy, because it is going to be one of the coldest, if not the coldest, Gasparilla we’ve ever had.”
So how rare is it to have these kind of temperatures at this time of the year?
Dellegatto said the average high for Feb. 1 is 72 degrees, and the average low is 54. On Sunday, Tampa will be lucky to hit a high temperature above the average low. It’s still too early to pinpoint a temperature for puck drop, but he believes it will be in the 40s.
“It would not be a complete surprise if it got to 39 or 40 at some point,” he said. “It’ll be cold by our standards. … I think the line is, anyone that’s going to the game should probably dress up as if they’re going skiing, by our standards.”
“I’m going to go, and I plan on dressing kind of like I’m going to an outdoor football game at the Meadowlands in December,” he added. “It should be the same kind of thing — in the 40s.”
Neither Dellegatto or Phillips predicted precipitation or worse — humidity — to be an issue for the game.
“I think the biggest issue right off the bat is, believe it or not, it’s the dew point,” Phillips said. “And the drier the air, the better the conditions, because as the air gets more moisture-laden, there’s a better chance of frost forming on the ice. So even if it were rather cold, if the humidity was high, you’d still have issues on the ice with that frost forming and making it really difficult for the puck to slide. So that’s one of the reasons they have the big tent there, to keep the dew point down, which means, with a lower dew point, a less chance of frost.”
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