World Series Forecast: Will Weather Be a Factor in Chicago?

Jon Erdman
Published: October 26,2016
In a surreal 2016 World Series featuring two cold-climate cities starving for their first baseball championship since the early 20th century, weather may play a role in two of the next three games between the Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs.

Games 3 through 5: Balmy, By Chicago Standards

Fortunately, for those who hope weather won't screw up sports championships, there are no major storm systems brewing for the Upper Midwest that could sink the two (or three, if necessary) games at Chicago's Wrigley Field Friday through Sunday.
There are four most notable things about the weather in Chicago for the World Series:
1) The wind will be blowing out in Game 3 Friday night, with south-southwest winds from 10-20 mph.
2) Temperatures should be quite mild, by late October standards, particularly Friday and Saturday evenings.
3) There is a risk of light rain Saturday night as a cold front slides through.
4) Sunday night's Game 5 will likely be cooler, with a slight breeze off Lake Michigan.
(FORECAST: Chicago)
The only World Series game in league history to be suspended due to rain was Game 5 of the 2008 World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies, when the combination of rain and wind in Philadelphia forced the Oct. 27 game to be completed two days later.
Coincidentally, current Cubs manager Joe Maddon was skipper of the Rays in that series eight years ago.
The last World Series games played in Wrigley Field featured daytime highs ranging from 51 degrees on Oct. 8, 1945, to a balmy 74 degrees on Oct. 7, 1945.

Forecast Model Winds Friday Night: Game 3 First Pitch

Games 6 and 7 Outlook: November Warmth in Cleveland

If this best-of-seven game series needs Games 6 and 7 in Cleveland Tuesday and Wednesday, once again, the weather does not look chilly.
Initial forecast guidance suggests that a cold front will be pushing through the western Great Lakes, but may not have enough energy to push through northern Ohio, keeping Cleveland rather mild for early November.
The outlook is mild with west to southwest winds and evening (game-time) temperatures in the 50s or even 60s.
(FORECAST: Cleveland)
Incidentally, the coldest World Series game of the last 40 years was on Oct. 22, 1997, in Cleveland, with a game-time temperature of 38 degrees, wind chills in the upper teens and flurries falling during the game.
It remains too soon to tell if that sluggish front will push close enough to the Cleveland metro next week to spawn any showers.

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