World Cup Gametime Forecast

The United States will take on Belgium in the knockout round of the World Cup today at 3pm CST/ 4pm EST. The match will be played in Arena Fonte Nova, which is located in Salvador, Brazil. This city sits on the eastern coast of Brazil and is an hour ahead of the eastern time zone so the match will begin at 5pm local time.

Salvador experiences a pretty similar climate to Natal and Recife; the other coastal cities that the U.S. has played in during this World Cup. This is another tropical climate that receives plentiful rain. On average, Salvador receives about 83 inches of rain per year with about 8 inches of rain falling during the month of July.

July is the end of the wet season for this region although rainfall is common year-round with the city averaging 225 days per year with at least a trace of rainfall. July is usually the coolest month of the year with a high temperature of 79° and an average low temperature of 71°.

Today , a nice day is expected but there could be a few showers and thunderstorms. Currently, it is 80° in Salvador under mostly sunny skies. Current visible satellite imagery shows  and area of showers and thunderstorms just off the Brazilian coast and we will have to watch these closely to see if they move inland today.

Salvador should stay dry during the match but we can’t rule out an isolated shower or storm. This will not be like the last game in Recife, any shower or storm will be relatively quick-hitting. The latest run of the GFS keeps things dry during the game but hints at a few showers around the area.

Temperatures may rise a few degrees this afternoon before falling to about 80° by the start of the match and by the end of the match we will see temperatures in the upper 70s. Moderately high dew points will keep things pretty humid…typical Brazil.

In summary, here is the forecast for the start of the match:

Make sure you cheer on the team today as it is win or go home for the USA. #BeatBelgium