- Hurricane Idalia is forecast to make landfall in Northern Florida on Wednesday morning.
- The current trajectory of the storm will take it up the Georgia and Carolina coast on Wednesday and Thursday.
- Barring anything unforeseen, most of the sports action for the week should escape unscathed.
The Atlantic Hurricane season begins on June 1 and runs through November 1 and the tropical storm output often gets busier later in the year. Right on the cusp of September, the first major storm of the Atlantic Hurricane season is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday morning. Hurricane Idalia continues to strengthen as it churns through the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to be a Category 3 hurricane by the time it reaches the Florida coast.
Hurricanes are notoriously unpredictable storms and there’s a lot of potential for ancillary issues once it makes landfall. That said, the storm is not currently expected to impact any sporting events this week. Currently, the only thing that hasn’t been ‘business as usual’ so far this week is the travel plans for the University of Florida. Florida leaves the swampy undergrowth of Gainesville this week to play against the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Thursday night. The Gators are spending Tuesday night in Dallas and then continuing on to SLC on Wednesday. The original plan was to fly directly from Gainesville, FL to Utah on Wednesday. Gators’ head coach Billy Napier tried to put a positive spin on the situation:
“If you’re going to go west, that makes the most sense. Hotel was a big logistical issue relative to where to go. … This could end up being a positive. We break the flight up. We get the players and the staff into Dallas, get a good night’s rest, a little extra focus and then obviously get to spend some more time together. We see that being positive.”
The current storm trajectory suggests that Idalia will have buffetted the Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina coast on Wednesday and Thursday before moving out to sea. It’s projected path could threaten Bermuda but the hope is that it’ll lose significant force over land. Here’s the current five day map:
The storm is expected to bring a lot of rain throughout the Southeast, but by the weekend the weather is expected to be sunny and mild. With the NFL not starting their regular season until September 7, there’s not many sporting events in the storm path to begin with.
For the latest news and information, the National Hurricane Center is the place to go:
