World Cup weather from space
1978–2014
As the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ kicked-off in Brazil, we took a look at the weather at some of the previous tournaments.
30 October 2020
13 June 2014
The opening ceremony of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil on 12 June, took place under largely clear and sunny skies, as can be seen in the image below.
At the first World Cup in Uruguay in June 1930 it snowed. At the time satellite imagery wasn't available to help forecasters, but since the 1970s satellite imagery has been used for many sporting events.
Brazil, 12 June 2014
The Meteosat-10 Natural Colour RGB image from 18:00 UTC shows clear skies over a large area of the country. There was some cloud east of the opening ceremony venue in São Paulo, which moved over the city making it partly cloudy for kick-off. In the far north convective clouds can be seen.
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Below we take a look at the satellite images from 1978, on the opening days of various World Cup championships.
Argentina, 1 June 1978
The NASA GOES-2 image from 15:00 UTC shows clear skies in the north and a band of frontal cloud over southern parts of Argentina.
The weather at the opening ceremony in Buenos Aires was largely sunny with some cirrus cloud.
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Spain, 13 June 1982
Gravity waves can be seen over central and northern parts in the Meteosat-2 visible image from 12:30 UTC. There was convection over Catalonia, but further north in Barcelona the opening ceremony took place in sunny weather.
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Mexico, 31 May 1986
The NASA GOES-6 image from 15:00 UTC shows fog on the west coast; a cyclonic disturbance affecting the south and some convection in the east. The opening ceremony in Mexico City took place under largely cloudy skies.
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Italy, 8 June 1990
Although this Meteosat-4 from 12:30 UTC shows cloud in some northern parts, the front had passed Milan, where the opening ceremony took place later in the day, leaving clear skies.
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USA, 17 June 1994
The GOES-7 image from 21:00 UTC shows mainly clear skies for the opening ceremony in Chicago, fog or low cloud along the East Coast and clear skies in California.
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France, 10 June 1998
The Meteosat-7 image from 12:00 UTC shows there were showers and sunny periods over the opening ceremony venue in Saint-Denis. However, it was cloudy with rain in southern and south-eastern parts of the country.
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South Korea and Japan, 31 May 2002
The Himawari-5 (GMS) image from 02:30 UTC shows fog down the west coast of South Korea but clear skies over the opening ceremony venue in Seoul. It was mainly cloudy over Japan.
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Germany, 9 June 2006
This Natural Colour RGB from Meteosat-8 at 12:00 UTC, shows it was completely cloud free over most of Germany. But there was some thin, high cloud over eastern parts, almost reaching Munich where the opening ceremony took place.
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South Africa, 11 June 2010
The Meteosat-9 image from 12:00 UTC shows clear skies over much of South Africa, including the opening ceremony venue in Johannesburg. There was some stratocumulus in the east and thin, high cloud in the north eastern corner.
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