San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, where the Opening Ceremony will be hosted to kick off the 2026 Winter Olympics.
(Duilio Piaggesi/ipa-agency.net/IPA/Sipa USA)
After four years of waiting and preparation, the Winter Olympics are finally back!
And while the 2026 rosters are locked in, Mother Nature is still a bit of a wild card.
Will the weather go for gold, or make for soggy Opening Ceremony celebrations?
Let’s take a look at the forecast.
Opening Ceremony Weather
The games are set to kick off with the Opening Ceremony on Friday at 8 p.m. CET in Milan, Italy (that’s 2 p.m. ET for those of you looking to tune in.)
And while San Siro Stadium, the venue for the ceremony, has a partial roof that extends over the seats, the opening in the center means the weather can still play a key role.
Rain is in the forecast for the early morning hours on Friday, but showers are expected to taper off by late morning.
The sun may even peek out in the hours leading up to the ceremony as spectators and athletes make their way to the stadium.
Conditions are expected to stay dry during the ceremony with only a slight chance of a stray shower or mist towards the end.
Temperatures in the 40s paired with light winds will still make for a chilly evening, so if you’re headed to the ceremony, I would make sure to bundle up.
The Lead Up
Although it seems like the weather may cooperate for the Opening Ceremony, it has been causing some problems early this week as they rush to finish up preparations for the games.
But on the bright side, the same weather system has brought some snow to Cortina d’Ampezzo, where many of the snow and sliding events will take place.
As we continue to monitor the weather for the rest of the Olympics, it’s important to note that events will be spread across much of northern Italy, so weather conditions can vary greatly.
What winter event are you most excited to watch? Let us know below!
Caitlin Kaiser graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with both an undergraduate and graduate degree in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences before starting her career as a digital meteorologist with weather.com.
