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I don’t look at bad weather games as a badge of honor. For me, they are a huge obstacle and inconvenience in the world of stadium visiting. Trying to take pictures, writing some notes and protecting my souvenir program from precipitation can be a challenge. Not to mention the issue of getting to a stadium, where if I’m not familiar with the area, can suck in bad weather. Being a meteorologist, I have a deep passion for the weather, but I would rather enjoy it either forecasting from my office or watching from the comforts of home. With that said, here are the stadium visits that I had to bear down on:
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OUTDOOR EVENTS
- Michie Stadium – This could have been worse as rain held off until a few minutes into the game, which allowed me to get some initial pictures. But once it started, a continuous wind-driven rain sullied one of the best settings for college football. Major tip of the cap to the wife, who sat thru this whole game. I guess rain is better than snow, as the high elevations around West Point had significant snow three days later.
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- Sam Boyd Stadium – Early September is still quite hot in Vegas and this day was no exception. The high reached 103 degrees at McCarran Airport and when I got to Sam Boyd Stadium on the outskirts of the city, it was still 96. What an odd feeling to be sitting at a night football game sweating and feeling the need to consistently drink water.
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- Notre Dame Stadium – Perhaps the most famous of my bad weather games…This was the only time Notre Dame has had a weather delay. A pretty nasty squall line moved through South Bend and lightning caused the game to be delayed 2 hours and 10 minutes. Though the wait was quite long, I didn’t mind the extra time to wander the famous stadium’s concourses. Plus, it was much more comfortable for the second half as we lost the oppressive heat.
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- Coca-Cola Park – Hail is an exciting phenomena for a meteorologist (especially an East Coast one). We all desperately want to see it during a storm and this was the day I saw some bigger than dime-sized. One inch diameter hail fell earlier in the day as we were at Musikfest in nearby Bethlehem before the game. It set the stage for a wet, chilly evening in Allentown’s new ballpark…but the earlier success made it worth it.
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INDOOR EVENTS
- Bell Centre – Just a college kid who didn’t know any better. A very unusual April Ice Storm left Oswego, NY covered by an inch of ice the morning of April 4, 2003. Yet, unfazed, I spent an hour de-frosting my car and detoured our way through closed roads to make it up to Montreal. Probably not the smartest move. It wasn’t much better in Quebec as sleet pelted us on our journey through downtown. All was forgotten once inside to see the most famous team name in hockey.
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- MAC Center – This also ranks up there in the list of dumb drives. Cancelling this Ohio trip may have been the right move, but somehow I made to all three Northeast Ohio venues during a 4-8 inch Lake Effect event that made the roads a mess. The short daytime trip from Canton to Kent was the worst and yet I even stopped in Akron during the inch per hour snowfall to ensure an outdoor photo of Rhodes Arena, a facility that would be visited at night.
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- Louis Brown Athletic Center – I was not going to miss this game, even for a blizzard. Well, it wasn’t quite a blizzard, but a decent winter storm dropped six inches across North and Central Jersey. This guarantees a 12 hour work day, yet the hours were conducive for me to get to Piscataway for a 4 PM start between Rutgers and Syracuse. Best part of the stadium visit: This
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- TD Bank Sports Center – No wintry weather on this visit, instead rain and lots of it. A continuous downpour made driving on the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut for the first time not fun. As I watched the rain fall through the interior windows of Quinnipiac’s gym, a crappy ride home was inevitable. A night-time ride on I-95 with random flooding and giant puddles…not good times.
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Stadium and Arena Visits 
