It seems almost impossible to predict the winner of the 2024 NRL Grand Final between the Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers, with both teams incredibly evenly matched.

Predicting the weather on the night appears easier, and the good news is that a window of fine, mild Sydney weather is highly likely for the season decider which kicks off at 7:30pm (AEDT) at on Sunday evening at Sydney’s Accor Stadium. 

• A maximum temperature of 28°C is forecast for Sydney Olympic Park on Sunday.
• The NRL Women's Grand Final kicks off at 3:55pm, so at least the first half of the match will likely be played during the hottest part of the day.
• The temperature for the men's grand final should be around 21°C for the kickoff at 7:30pm, with a "feels like" temp only a degree or so lower due to light northwesterly winds.
• The temperature at the end of the match around 10pm should still be 17 or 18 degrees, with the "feels like" temp again only a degree or so lower.

The Skip chats all things Grand Final week, shutting out outside noise & putting their best foot forward on Sunday ??

Hear from H ????

— Melbourne Storm (@storm) September 30, 2024

What about the weather leading up to the match?

After a very dry start to September, Sydney closed out the month with more than 60 mm of rain falling over five days.

But dry weather will return for almost all of the first week of October, with just the chance of a brief shower or two on Wednesday morning, and on Friday night into Saturday morning.

One to go ????#pantherpride ???? #letsride pic.twitter.com/vhoUI8B58l

— Penrith Panthers ???????????? (@PenrithPanthers) September 30, 2024

The long weekend will be dominated by warm, dry northwesterlies.

A cold front crossing Tasmania and the southeastern tip of mainland Australian on Saturday will freshen winds but have little impact on Sydney weather, while a stronger, potentially wetter southerly change is not expected to sweep up the NSW coast until late Monday into Tuesday.

In short, that means the NRL Grand Final should fall in the middle of a window of fine weather, which should provide a perfect surface for one of the most anticipated matches in years between the league’s top two teams.

Can the Panthers make it four in a row or will the Storm thwart them at the final hurdle as they did in 2020? One thing we can promise is that the only storm will be on the field – not above it.