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USA Today
26-03-2025
- Climate
- USA Today
It could be a rainy Masters in 2025. Here's the long-range forecast for Augusta National
It could be a rainy Masters in 2025. Here's the long-range forecast for Augusta National Show Caption Hide Caption Masters: What is Amen Corner? Augusta National is the home of the Masters Tournament and Amen Corner, considered hallowed grounds in the golf world. Ginny Beagan, Augusta Chronicle The Augusta National Women's Amateur, held April 2-5, will see fluctuating weather conditions, starting with rain and ending with sunshine. The Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals on April 6 and Masters practice rounds on April 7-8 are forecast to be warm and mostly sunny. The Masters Tournament, from April 10-13, is predicted to have significant rainfall on Thursday through Saturday, potentially impacting play. Masters Week is coming. Will the sun shine over Augusta or will patrons need to buy an umbrella from the Augusta National pro shop? AccuWeather provides long-range forecasts and below is a look at what it says for the Masters Tournament and the other events that precede it at the golf club. Keep in mind that the weather will likely change as we get closer to Masters Week, so stay tuned for important updates. What will the weather be like for the Augusta National Women's Amateur? The Augusta National Women's Amateur is Wednesday, April 2 through Saturday, April 5. Here's the forecast: April 2: 71 degrees in the morning, 74 by the afternoon. The whole day will be almost completely cloudy with an 80 percent chance of rain and about a 13% chance of it turning into thunderstorms later in the day. There won't be much wind. 71 degrees in the morning, 74 by the afternoon. The whole day will be almost completely cloudy with an 80 percent chance of rain and about a 13% chance of it turning into thunderstorms later in the day. There won't be much wind. April 3: 75 degrees in the morning, 81 by the afternoon. Completely cloudy skies in the morning with some slight clearing later. However, there's less than a 10 percent chance of rain with little wind. 75 degrees in the morning, 81 by the afternoon. Completely cloudy skies in the morning with some slight clearing later. However, there's less than a 10 percent chance of rain with little wind. April 4: Guests should finally get some sunshine with the day starting at 60 percent cloud cover and dropping to 5 percent by the afternoon. Temperatures will be around 74-79 degrees with no chance of rain currently. Guests should finally get some sunshine with the day starting at 60 percent cloud cover and dropping to 5 percent by the afternoon. Temperatures will be around 74-79 degrees with no chance of rain currently. April 5: The sun will really be back in action with almost no clouds, temperatures reaching 84 degrees (although it will reportedly feel like 88 degrees), and a max UV index of 8. There will also be little to no wind. What will the weather be like for the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals? The Drive, Chip, and Putt National Finals are on Sunday, April 6. It's likely to be a warm one with mostly sunny skies, temperatures once again feeling like 88 degrees, and a max UV of 8. A few clouds may provide some shade in the afternoon, but don't expect much. What will the weather be like for the Masters practice rounds? Practice rounds for the Masters are Monday, April 7 and Tuesday, April 8. Here's the forecast: April 7: Temperatures around 72 degrees in the morning, 77 in the afternoon. More clouds are expected later in the evening with 37 percent coverage by nightfall, but there's currently only a 20 percent chance of precipitation. Temperatures around 72 degrees in the morning, 77 in the afternoon. More clouds are expected later in the evening with 37 percent coverage by nightfall, but there's currently only a 20 percent chance of precipitation. April 8: While earlier forecasts indicated rain or even perhaps a thunderstorm, recent forecasts are looking much better with little to no chance of clouds and a 20 percent chance of precipitation. But it will be pretty warm with 72 degrees and 78% humidity in the morning, 80 degrees and 50 percent humidity in the afternoon. Plus the max UV index is back at 8. What will the weather be like for the Par 3 Contest? The Masters Tournament Par 3 Contest is Wednesday, April 9. Those attending will want to wear sunscreen because it's supposed to feel like 85 degrees during the day with an even higher UV index at 9. Humidity will also be at 78% in the morning, but that'll drop to 49 percent by the afternoon. You may get some occasional reprieve as cloud coverage is expected to be around 20-30 percent. What will the weather be like for the Masters Tournament? The Masters Tournament is Thursday, April 10 through Sunday, April 13. Good news: Things will finally start cooling down. Bad news: You may want to buy one of those commemorative umbrellas ASAP. Here's the latest forecasts:
USA Today
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Want to try Augusta National's iconic pimento cheese? How to order 'Taste of the Masters'
Want to try Augusta National's iconic pimento cheese? How to order 'Taste of the Masters' Show Caption Hide Caption Masters: What is Amen Corner? Augusta National is the home of the Masters Tournament and Amen Corner, considered hallowed grounds in the golf world. Ginny Beagan, Augusta Chronicle In the mood for Augusta National's pimento cheese, egg salad or moon pies but can't get to the course for Masters week? The Masters Tournament has you covered. The 'Taste of the Masters Hosting Kit,' containing some of the tournament's famous concession food items, is back and available for online ordering. "Elevate your watch party with Taste of the Masters, delivering Augusta National Golf Club's timeless concessions to your door. Order now, so you can enjoy and serve your guests the ultimate Tournament viewing experience for the 2025 Masters, April 10-13," a note on the Taste of the Masters website reads. And there's a new addition: The limited edition "Azalea Kit" includes a new non-alcoholic Azalea cocktail mix with "cups and tools to mix up the signature cocktail of the Tournament." Here's what to know and how to order the famous Masters Tournament concessions: How to order Augusta National food package 'Taste of the Masters' for 2025 The Masters will deliver some of its tasty concessions fares right to your door. Taste of the Masters is back for 2025 and online ordering is now available. Classics Kit According to the Masters, The Classics Kit for $99.95 serves 4 to 6 people and comes with: Pimento Cheese (24oz) Plain Potato Chips (6) Mini Chocolate Moon Pies (6) Masters Branded Souvenir Cups (sleeve of 12) Masters Branded Wax Paper (sleeve of 12 sheets) Masters Coasters (pack of 12) Hosting Kit Materials (printed menu, food cards and accessories) Large Hosting Kit The Large Hosting Kit is $184.95, serves 12 to 14 people and includes: Egg Salad (24oz) Pimento Cheese (24oz) Pork Bar-B-Que (24oz) Plain Potato Chips (6) Bar-B-Que Potato Chips (6) Cookies (6) Georgia Pecan Caramel Popcorn (6) Masters Branded Souvenir Cups (sleeve of 25) Masters Branded Wax Paper (sleeve of 12 sheets) Masters Coasters (pack of 12) Hosting Kit Materials Bread and buns are not included. Limited Edition Azalea Kit The Limited Edition Azalea Kit is $64.95, serves six drinks (alcohol is not included), is limited to two per customer, and includes: Non-Alcoholic Azalea Cocktail Mix (25.4 fl oz.) Masters Branded Souvenir Cups (Pack of 6) Masters Coasters (Pack of 12) Masters Branded Stirrers (Pack of 6) Masters Cocktail Jigger (1) Recipe Card Shipping for is free, except to Alaska and Hawaii ($20), and delivery is offered between April 3 and April 12. Orders cannot be shipped to P.O. Boxes Taste of the Masters food package cost? The smaller 'Classics kit' is 99.95, the large 'Hosting kit' will set you back $184.95 and the new Azalea Kit drink kit is priced at $64.95. Menu prices at the Masters Tournament 'We believe that one of the reasons the Masters is popular with patrons of the game is because they can obtain good food and drink at reasonable prices,' Augusta National Golf Club and Masters Tournament co-founder Clifford Roberts wrote in his book, 'The Story of Augusta National Golf Club." Here are prices for some of the most popular items served at Masters Tournament concessions in 2024: Egg salad sandwich $1.50 Pimento cheese sandwich $1.50 Masters club sandwich $3 Chicken salad on honey wheat $3 Ham and cheese on rye $3 Classic chicken sandwich $3 Domestic beer $6 Import beer $6 Crow's Nest $6 What are the most popular foods served at the Masters Tournament? The Masters Tournament menu boasts over 30 items with prices ranging from $1 to $6 (beer, white wine). "We want the experience to not only be the best but to be affordable. And we take certain things very, very seriously. Like the cost of a pimento cheese sandwich is just as important as how high the second cut (of grass) is going to be," former Masters Tournament and Augusta National Golf Club chairman Billy Payne said in 2007. The iconic pimento cheese and egg salad sandwiches are a staple for Masters patrons and cost a mere $1.50 apiece. Support local journalism by subscribing to a Florida news organization.
USA Today
09-02-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Canaveral National Seashore, 'Place of Canes,' turns 50, as SpaceX, others eye more rockets
Canaveral National Seashore, 'Place of Canes,' turns 50, as SpaceX, others eye more rockets Show Caption Hide Caption Rehabilitated sea turtles returned to ocean near Canaveral National Seashore On Feb. 19, 2019, sixteen endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles were returned to the waters near Canaveral National Seashore, Florida by the SeaWorld Orlando rescue team after months of rehabilitation at SeaWorld Orlando's critical care facility. Ginny Beagan, Wochit Spanish explorers sought gold and the Fountain of Youth as they happened upon what they'd call Canaveral, a 'Place of Canes,' 500 years ago. But the riches the area provided came not from digging into the ground, but from sending things to space. For the last half-century, the area has walked the tightrope of being a place of great natural beauty, while also being home to the world's busiest space launch facility. But that balancing act is becoming more difficult as private launch providers are sending rockets to orbit at a pace that would have been unimaginable a half-century ago. President Ford's conservation ethic More: Houston got a problem? DeSantis: Move NASA headquarters to Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County, Florida Fifty years ago, then President Gerald Ford made a 24-mile span of the Cape's beach the last of 10 national seashores, despite Pentagon and other pressures urging against it. Ford's summer job at Yellowstone National Park in 1936 had instilled a conservation ethic in the 38th president. This year Canaveral National Seashore celebrates 50 years of keeping its ecological head above water, as a new wave of threats from more private launches, invasive species, and rising seas all converge to swamp this longest stretch of undeveloped beach on Florida's East Coast. "Now we're in a situation where Elon Musk is the principal advisor to the president-elect," said Clay Henderson, a retired Orlando environmental attorney who helped found a nonprofit that supports the park. "What the founders didn't contemplate is the space race between billionaires." Musk and other billionaires' space pursuits near the national seashore could threaten wildlife with much more frequent launches that also will result in more security closures to fishing and other recreation in the park's southern reaches, Canaveral advocates fear. So Henderson and others stand ready to jump into the inevitable battles ahead as private space activities ramp up near the nation's 10th and last national seashore to be dedicated. Private launches gain velocity Five hundred years after the Spanish explorers, billionaires' dreams of new riches and discovery launched from near Canaveral National Seashore echo countless other times in the past 50 years this "place of canes" faced seemingly inevitable onslaughts from ever-closer building cranes and bulldozers. Space Force officials project up to 156 orbital rockets could launch this year from Florida's Space Coast — an ambitious sum that would eclipse the newly established yearly record of 93 launches in 2024. And with many more aspirational launches from NASA and the likes of Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson, the usual risks are ramping up, and then some. This time around, however, it's doubtful a few Florida scrub jays, beach mice or the dozen other threatened species will get in the way of titans' dreams of the moon, Mars and more. All indications are that under a second Trump administration private space endeavors will face less federal scrutiny on how their operations might impact habitats at Canaveral National Seashore, which spans 57,661 acres, including the Mosquito Lagoon. One recent signal of that sentiment: In December, Trump posted on his Truth Social site that anyone who makes a $1 billion investment in the United States 'will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals.' 'GET READY TO ROCK!!!' he added. Shortly thereafter, news broke that an undisclosed space company rumored to be SpaceX hopes to start grand-scale construction on more than $1.8 billion worth of heavy-lift rocket infrastructure at Cape Canaveral, with work potentially complete within 18 months to two years. SpaceX, an obvious contender on the mystery project, hopes to launch Starship-Super Heavy mega-rocket systems from the Space Coast by 2026. An environmental study remains ongoing to rebuild Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station for Starship launch and landing operations. So some fear Trump's recent tweet and relationship with Musk portend a potential dismantling of such environmental reviews, required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). That 1970 benchmark law requires federal agencies to do environmental reviews before approving major projects for space, energy, highways, pipelines and other infrastructure. Corporate lobbyists have pushed for decades to shorten the time it takes and the requirements for such expensive reviews. At least 19 times since 2019, SpaceX Starship activities triggered fires, leaks, explosions or other mishaps at the company's rapidly growing complex in Boca Chica, Texas, including migratory bird nests that get blasted dead. Many such mishaps could have happened here. A decade ago, Space Florida — the agency responsible for promoting aerospace in the Sunshine State — had promoted the idea of a commercial launch complex on 200 acres at the north end of NASA-owned land in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, an area called Shiloh. But community members mostly skewered the idea because of environmental concerns. So SpaceX's $100 million Starship launch pad was built in Boca Chica, Texas, instead. Henderson and other conservationists fought off the Shiloh commercial launch complex, as well as Blue Origins wanting to build a million-square foot rocket facility, and plans for a new launch pad near the national seashore's Playalinda Beach. Another concern: Henderson suspects the new NASA director will be more closely tied to Musk, and not as environmentally conscious as current NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, who grew up in Brevard County. Uncertain impacts of more launches Even plants might 'feel the heat' of more frequent launches. Chemical fallout could create shifts in nearby plant life at places such as Canaveral, with uncertain long-term consequences. A recent study by Bethune-Cookman University, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and others found the increase in rocket launches changes vegetation communities. They measured detectable impacts of liquid propellant launches on nearby vegetation. They vegetation cover changes they saw included mangroves expanding in wetland areas and the mix of coastal plants converting to denser scrubs and hardwood forests, which were likely influenced by fire management needed for launches, as well as mild winters. "Thus far, there is a lack of studies conducted to assess the potential impacts of the increasing numbers of launches of the Falcon 9 rockets that use liquid oxygen (LOx) and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) propellant," the researchers wrote. "The byproducts of these are mainly water and carbon dioxide, the environmental impact of which is deemed to be low compared to the solid rocket motor exhaust products." But as the space industry increases the frequency of launches, "...particularly from locations like Cape Canaveral Barrier Island, it is critical to document the potential cumulative impacts of launches," the researchers added. "Compounding challenges, such as rising tide levels, beach erosion, and wetland loss, potentially threaten the resilience of launch operations and the surrounding habitats," the researchers concluded. Biologists have documented more than 310 species of birds, including the bald eagle, wood stork, the Florida scrub jay, and roseate spoonbills and and near Canaveral. But existential threats are nothing new to this unique stretch of shoreline, where sea turtles and more than a dozen other endangered species keep living on the edge. Sinking in the sea? Launches aside, risks to wildlife already are on the rise at Canaveral. The national seashore could be almost completely under the ocean by the end of the century if greenhouse gases aren't significantly cut, according to a 2012 study by two nonprofits: Natural Resources Defense Council and Rocky Mountain Climate Organization. Only thin strips of Canaveral seashore's lands are higher than one meter above sea level. The 24-mile barrier island in some places is no more than 100 yards wide, so it's already very vulnerable to rising seas, the report asserts. And unlike many barrier islands that have both primary and secondary rows of dunes to guard from storm surges and overwash, Canaveral has just a single dune row. Endangered sea turtles could lose nesting area and warmer sand could skew gender ratios to more females, the study's authors said. More recently, a 2023 study by Florida International University, based on data from a federal tide gauge at Port Canaveral, found sea level rising at 6.4 millimeters per year between 1993 and 2002. But that rate of rise has sped up to 9.6 millimeters between 2003 and 2022. Each hurricane, the ocean threatens to wash out the park's roads. "Between (hurricanes) Nicole and Milton, over eight miles of dune was impacted, some completely blown out," Laura Henning, the park's chief of interpretation and visitor services, said via email. "It is still flattened in the backcountry, Klondike Beach. We have been battling it since Nicole." If not for NASA, it could have all been condos Volusia County's New Smyrna Beach, or 'condo row,' was marching south in the early '70s. There were several plans for development, including a proposal for a large mobile home development on Canaveral's north end. That never happened. Business and civic leaders fought off such proposals. Nonetheless, many fear the area is becoming increasingly exclusive, anyway. The prospect of large swaths of the ocean off Canaveral being closed for security reasons as many more rockets blast off is something fishermen such as Captain Alex Gorichky, of Local Lines Guide Service, are resigned to. But they hope it won't be overkill. "To us, it just seems to be that our worries should at least be factored into the situation a little bit," Gorichky said. Unlike surrounding shoreline, Canaveral National Seashore's haven't changed much since Spanish sailors saw this beach five centuries ago. It remains a place of discovery, a gateway to new worlds. "It's always a double-edge sword," said Gorichky, who worked on the space shuttle program painting solid rocket boosters, until the shuttle grounded in 2011. His father and grandfather also made their careers on the Cape, so the space program is ingrained in three generations in his family. And Gorichky knows that most of the area, including Canaveral National Seashore, would be condos by now, if not for the Space Race. "That doesn't mean it gives carte blanche to run roughshod over the entire situation," he said. So like many who cherish the park, he hopes the reasons it's so special can survive the new race to space between billionaires. "It's not a situation where we hate the space industry," Gorichky said. "It's a very unique waterway up there." Contact Waymer at 321-242-3663 or jwaymer@ Follow him on Twitter at @JWayEnviro
