Mercedes-Benz Stadium roof is leaking hours before Georgia-Alabama national championship game

File this under things that would happen to the city of Atlanta.

The Georgia state capital is hosting the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which theoretically should protect the players and fans from the outside elements. But outside of the dome, which has a not-yet-fully-functioning retractable roof, rain has been pouring for some time. Around 6:15 p.m., a leak was noticed coming down from the roof around the 21-yard line closes to the end zone painted with Georgia's team name.

The leak, a steady stream, was spotted coming down on the hash mark closes to the Georgia sideline.

Punter Cameron Nizialek was on the field going through his steps when he reached the leak. It caused him to look up and examine what was going on.

The weather has been quite dismal all day. It has been cold with the temperature in the 30s. Rain started streaming down midway through the day and has been steady.

This adds to the list of absurd things to happen at sporting events to Atlanta.

In 2000, Atlanta hosted Super Bowl XXXIV between the Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis Rams at the Georgia Dome, which has since been demolished. But instead of enjoying mildly cold conditions, Atlanta endured an ice storm that froze the city.

The Georgia Dome also hosted the 2008 SEC Tournament but withstood damage when a tornado touched down and hit the stadium. That tournament was subsequently moved to Georgia Tech's campus, with the last-place Georgia basketball team winning the conference championship.

Georgia director of operations Josh Lee was spotted chatting with a College Football Playoff official about the leak.

Georgia and Alabama are slated for a kickoff at 8:17 p.m. on ESPN. According to The Weather Channel, it doesn't appear that the rain is expected to stop any time soon. As for if the leak will cause any issues after the two teams begin play, well, that remains to be seen

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 6:37 PM with the headline "Mercedes-Benz Stadium roof is leaking hours before Georgia-Alabama national championship game."