KANSAS CITY, Missouri – As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare to face the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card Round matchup at Arrowhead Stadium, fans are being urged to bundle up for game day. Meteorologists are predicting brutally cold conditions with freezing temperatures, powerful winds, and heavy snow expected to chill a large swath of the United States this weekend.
The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. CT, with the air temperature at kickoff forecast to be around 0 degrees Fahrenheit, but it will feel much colder with a bone-chilling wind chill of -22 degrees. Throughout the game, sustained winds of 15 to 20 mph and gusts up to 40 mph will further add to the misery. By the end of the game, the air temperature is expected to dip to -2 degrees with a wind chill around -23 degrees.
According to the National Weather Service, the expected high temperature for Kansas City on Saturday is around 5 degrees, which would be the coldest high temperature on record for the date in the area. Weather service meteorologists are predicting dangerously cold weather in the Kansas City area through next week.
Fans attending the game are allowed to bring blankets into the stadium, where there will be warming stations and hot chocolate available. However, there will be a significant risk of frostbite for spectators who are not bundled up correctly, with frostbite potentially occurring in wind chills near the forecasted temperatures.
While there is no temperature threshold for cancellation or postponement of NFL games, it is unlikely that officials will cancel the Chiefs-Dolphins showdown due to low temperatures. The NFL has never canceled or postponed a game for this reason. However, the dangerous blizzard conditions forecasted in the Northeast this weekend led to the postponement of another AFC Wild Card Round matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills.
The coldest game in NFL history took place on New Year’s Eve in 1967 when the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The air temperature that day was -13 degrees with a wind chill of -48 degrees, earning the game the nickname “The Ice Bowl.” Other notable extremely cold games include the 1981 AFC Championship game, the 2016 Wild Card game, and the 2008 NFC Championship game.
In preparation for games with snowy or cold weather, the NFL requires a snow-removal plan for each home club, and snow and ice must be removed from stadiums before each game. Fields must be covered with a tarp if there is any chance of precipitation. Heated benches must also be available to both teams and activated two hours prior to kickoff if weather dictates.
Despite the frigid conditions, fans and players alike are expected to tough it out and endure the extreme cold for the love of the game.