Forecast by Brandon Miller, Lead Meteorologist
(CNN) — There could be rumbles outside the ring on Sunday at the widely anticipated UFC fight set for the South Lawn of the White House — or, more precisely, above it — with more than 100,000 people possible in attendance.
The event planners will need to watch the sky closely, with strong thunderstorms in the forecast for fight night, which also happens to be President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. Dangerous lightning and destructive wind are the most concerning risks for the $60 million event.
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Thunderstorms will build with the afternoon heat on Sunday and could arrive as early as 2 p.m., with the window of potential storm activity stretching until around 9 p.m. ET, overlapping the timing of the fights themselves.
Forecast models show a line of thunderstorms, which will likely contain frequent lightning and peak wind gusts higher than 50 mph, moving through the DC area around the 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. timeframe.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center highlights an area from Virginia to the New Jersey region, with Washington, DC, squarely in the middle, under a level 2-of-5 severe weather risk on Sunday, the highest in the country. “Scattered thunderstorms may develop within this area during peak heating and pose a risk mainly for damaging gusts,” the center said.
The event could draw more than 100,000 people, mostly gathered on the Ellipse, with an additional 4,000 watching the fights on the White House South Lawn.
The fights themselves will take place inside the “Octagon” beneath a nearly 100-foot lighting grid referred to as the “Claw.” The towering metal structure is impossible to miss in current aerial views of the nation’s capital, but it could also act like a giant lightning rod in a severe thunderstorm.
Weather has been a concern for UFC CEO Dana White, who told Fox News in an interview that he hates having fights outdoors because of the unpredictability of the weather. White said the UFC will monitor it with the US military but also noted that lightning could disrupt the event.
“If it rains, we’re going. If it snows, we’re going,” White said. “The only thing that kills us is lightning.”
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