Rain Threatens Pope's Visit On Sunday

It looks like the weather may not be cooperating with Pope Francis’ visit to the region.

When crowds upwards of a million people descend on Benjamin Franklin Parkway during the Papal mass on Sunday, they may need to bring a raincoat.

While most of the week and Saturday will be partly cloudy or sunny, there is now an 80 percent chance of rain on Sunday, the day of Francis’ largest outdoor events.

While he has occasional outdoor appearances scheduled during his trips to Washington D.C. and New York City, his outdoor speeches are in Philadelphia, at Independence Mall on Saturday and the mass on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday.

There is no rain date or makeup times scheduled for any of Francis’ events, according to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, one of the organizing bodies for the Pope’s visit.

However, city officials are prepared to deal with severe weather, and have an evacuation plan in place should it become dangerous.

The National Weather Service said that they would provide real-time weather monitoring to the city’s emergency operations center, according to Weather.com.

Text alerts will reportedly be sent out, and important safety instructions will be posted on video boards along the parkway.

“A mantra that all great planners have is plan for the worst and hope for the best,” U.S. Park Police Chief Robert MacLean told Weather.com. “When we sit down with our planners, we never take for granted that it’s just another July 4.”

In case of severe weather, an evacuation model based on Washington D.C.’s plan, called “Safe Haven,” will give visitors shelter in public spaces like museums and government offices, according to NBC 10.

Thunderstorms are very rare in September in Philadelphia, with weather statistics showing that they occur about 1.4 percent of the time, according to the National Weather Service.

For a complete schedule and more detailed information on the Pope’s visit,please see Patch’s complete guide.

Image courtesy Catholic.org.