Snow Flurries for a Jai-alai Tournament?

January 29, 2026:  St. Petersburg, FL :  Ever play jai-alai in the snow?  Perhaps in the Basque region on the mountains and all if your outside.  But in central Florida?  Highly doubtful. 

That might come to an end as there is a 20% chance of snow flurries early Sunday morning, and that will be during the second day of the Scott King/Sunshine City League’s big annual event where 30 players from all over the USA compete.  To make things even weirder, across the bridge in Tampa will be a Boston Bruins-Tampa Bay Lightning HOCKEY game played outdoors at Raymond James Stadium in front of 70,000 people.  All the worries of the ice melting in what was called hockey’s biggest challenge ever will be greeted with temperatures in the upper 30s by the end of the game.

The last time it snowed in central Florida was in 1977, nearly 50 years ago and that is the only known time in recorded history it has snowed in the area.  Playing jai-alai in the cold and extremely windy conditions is going to be tricky especially with 35mph winds Saturday, the first day of the event.  However, the side and back wall will block out the NW winds and it might not be that bad. 

The event starts at 10am with “free” admission and all are welcome.  The cancha is all fixed up and ready to go.   Special thanks to Scott King and Eric Lanctot for getting the repairs all done and to all those the helped out in the painting party.  Donations are certainly welcome to help preserve our public court – the only one in the country!  And always a special thanks to Paul Kubala and Tom “Corky” DeMint, Bill Foster and others to making it all happen 18 years ago!