A strong cold front will be at the leading edge of a colder-than-normal air mass on Thursday. This front will approach the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest later Thursday which is Opening Day for several teams in this part of the nation. Map courtesy NOAA, tropicaltidbits.com
The 2026 season gets underway with one game on Wednesday night to be played in San Francisco between the Yankees and Giants and the weather should be dry and cool. A full slate of games is to be played on Thursday, March 26th including several day games across the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. The weather in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic on Thursday afternoon will be influenced by an approaching strong cold frontal system that will be dropping to the south and east from the Northern Plains/Great Lakes towards the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic region.
It appears likely that the day games to be played in New York City (Mets), Philly, and Baltimore on Thursday afternoon will be safe from rain associated with the cold front which should hold off until later at night. In addition, it should be quite mild ahead of the front for Opening Day with highs likely near 65 degrees in Philly and NYC, and near 70 degrees in Baltimore.
The day games to be played in the Midwestern cities of Chicago (Cubs), Cincinnati, and St. Louis on Thursday afternoon will have a higher risk of showers and thunderstorms than in the Mid-Atlantic region, but likely to get the first games in without too much difficulty. As in the Mid-Atlantic, and it will be quite mild ahead of the incoming cold front with afternoon highs likely in the 70’s in Chicago and Cincinnati and perhaps as high as 90 degrees in St. Louis. In Milwaukee, afternoon temperatures on Thursday afternoon are likely to hold in the 60’s with the chance of showers and thunderstorms and it turns much colder on Thursday night with snowflakes on the table following the passage of the frontal system.
Meteorologist Paul Dorian