Kentucky Derby weather: Which years were the coldest, warmest and wettest?

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — As the clock counts down to the fastest two minutes in sports, you might be interested to know about when the hottest, coldest and wettest days were for the Kentucky Derby.

The National Weather Service (NWS) found both May 4, 1940, and May 4, 1957, to be the coldest race days ever at 36 degrees. It also didn’t help that the cold was accompanied by 20 to 25 miles per hour north winds during the 1957 race.

The warmest day recorded was May 2, 1959, at 94 degrees, but the warmest average daily happened years later on May 14, 1886, at 79 degrees.

The wettest day actually happened on May 5, 2018; the NWS found 3.15 inches of rain fell that day. However, out of the first 150 Kentucky Derby days, almost half of them experienced rain at some point during the day.

The last four years have been cloudy, with less than an inch of rain dropping during the day, the NWS data showed.

Weather officials noted the records are for the entire calendar day and they were taken at the observation site in Louisville, not at the track.

According to the National Weather Service, this Saturday at Churchill Downs will have a high temperature near 60 degrees with mostly sunny skies and winds blowing from the north at 3-8 miles per hour. 

The day’s coverage kicks off on FanDuel TV from 10:30 a.m. to noon ET.

Peacock and NBCSN will air undercard racing coverage from noon to 2:30 p.m. ET. 

NBC’s main broadcast — the one most viewers will want — begins at 2:30 p.m. ET and runs through 7:30 p.m. ET, airing simultaneously on both NBC and Peacock. 

A final race will air on FanDuel TV at 7:30 p.m. ET.