National Weather Service under a lot of pressure for Superbowl Sunday

With thousands of extra people traveling to the Bay Area for the Superbowl this weekend, any sort of weather hazard can become a big issue. The National Weather Service here in Monterey has been staffing up to handle a busy weekend. Since Monday they’ve brought in additional meteorologists to provide that extra support for the big game, but more importantly to help keep the public safe.

“We’re providing a lot of special support for our public safety officials and emergency managers in the area. We’re also ramping up operations, we’ve got some extra people in here to help out, we’re issuing more aviation forecasts than we normally do, and we’re helping to support everyone from the local all the way up to the federal level.” said Logan Johnson, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Everyone from local Fire, Police and EMS to State and Federal agencies like the FBI, will be receiving this extra support on weather updates to help run things smoothly. Since the weather effects everyone, every single day, one way or the other, for an event that’s as big as the Superbowl, the weather is critical.

“Whether or not it’s sunny, or it’s raining, that matters. It matters for a lot of things that you may not even consider. For law enforcement responding to things not even related to the Superbowl, the weather matters. For information for people headed out to the beaches, for lifeguards, it matters. So there’s a lot of things at play,” said Johnson.

Back here on the Central Coast, the weather during Superbowl weekend is also important for local businesses that are looking to bank on increased sales during the game.

“It’s going to be awesome, sunny weather in Monterey, you know the whole Bay Area flocks down here so it’s essential when it’s really nice down here, you know every business down on Alvarado Street should be bumping, it should be a great time,” said J.C. Hill, Head Brewer at the Alvarado Street Brewery in Monterey.

As for football lovers, the weather could make or break their Superbowl Sunday.

“For the comfort and safety of fans, for sure. For people headed out, going to spend any time outdoors, they need to know things like, you know is it going to be sunny, am I going to have to worry about sunblock. Is it cold, am I going to have to dress warmly, is it raining,” said Johnson.

Monday after the big game is another important day for the National Weather Service as a lot of people will be traveling out of the Bay Area.