The latest weather forecasts for Monday’s Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and host St. Louis Blues at Busch Stadium doesn’t look promising.
Puck drop between the two Central Division rivals is right now scheduled for just after 1 p.m. ET.
Light rain is still in the forecast, per the Weather Network. Temperatures are expected to reach into the 50s. And, on Sunday, it was reported there is the possibility for much worse weather, too.
“A mild day is in store for the Winter Classic in St. Louis. Temperatures reaching well into the 50s will make it difficult for maintenance to keep the ice rink frozen,” Rathbun said. “Rain will also fall, which will lead to ponding of water on the rink and difficult playing conditions.”
The amount of rain is questionable as there are indications that the heaviest rain may slide just to the south and east of St. Louis.
“There is the likelihood of a couple of showers during the afternoon, even if the heaviest rain stays away,” according to AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. “A thunderstorm is possible as well.”
In the event of unplayable conditions Monday, the big event could be moved to Tuesday, when there is less rain and cooler temperatures in the forecast.
“We’ve dealt with it before, so we’ll deal with it again if we have to,” said NBC Sports’ president of programming, Jon Miller, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
“If we do run into rain we will stay as long as we can. We’ll play it Monday night if necessary. And if we can’t get any play in on Monday, we’ll carry it over and we’ll play it on Tuesday. We’re hopeful that everything cooperates. We’ve all been looking at the weather, we’re all well aware of what the pitfalls are.”