“Quite a Storm Here in Buffalo”: -8 Degree Chilling Weather Derails Bills Pre-match Hype, Citizens Staying Inside Homes

The NFL playoffs 2024 wild card round is seeing exceptionally harsh weather conditions this season. First the Chiefs vs Dolphins, and now the Bills vs Steelers. Although the temperature near Highmark Stadium is far better than -4°F Kansas City earlier in the day, its 27 mph wind gust is posing a different threat altogether than what Arrowhead did.

And the windstorm has ruined the playoff party. The game has been rescheduled for a 4:30 PM kickoff on Monday, January 15 from the previous 1:00 PM Sunday, January 14 (ET) time. Things have forced the home side to ask its players and team personnel to stay at home for the day, much similar to what the local travel ban already noticed its citizens.

Bills vs Steelers game attacked by 18°F, 27 mph snowstorm

The current weather update in the Buffalo area says it has a temperature as low as 18°F/-8°C with wind speed reaching as high as 27 mph/43 kmph. With the temperature set way below freezing, the wind has turned into a snowstorm, the worst weather possible for an NFL game. NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe shared a glimpse of how terrible it actually was.

“There’s quite a storm here in Buffalo”, he said, further adding the league was going ahead with the Monday kickoff plan amid the ongoing winter storm effect that hit overnight. “The roads… Very low visibility, as you see, the wind is very heavy. And the Orchard Park which is about 12 miles South of where we are right now, actually got worse than us”, Wolfe presented the snowstorm behind him as an example of how bad things were despite not being the worst.

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“The Steelers are actually going through a walk-through right now… Their plan is to leave at 3 PM ET day on a flight here, but they’ll keep an eye on the radar. As far as the Bills, they told their players and personnel to stay at home. They do not want them on the roads… The travel ban here and in the Buffalo area still in effect… So they’re keeping them at home”, the reporter further stated the team was being cautious with its members. And so was NY governor Kathy Hochul’s office with its citizens as they enforced a 9-hour travel ban.

Bills vs Steelers to be shifted to a different location?

The local officials issued a driving ban in Buffalo from 9 PM, Saturday to 6 AM, Sunday, given the storm’s severity. “This is going to be a dangerous storm. I’d rather be safe than sorry later”, the governor said in her public statement. Much of that strictness comes from a December 2022 snowstorm that struck the area, killing 47 people. It invited public criticism of the local government, questioning their disaster management preparations.

The weather has effectively killed the festival-like atmosphere in Buffalo. Being the only team from the state to crack the playoffs this year, once again, the Bills fans were prepared to kick off early celebrations on their 5th consecutive playoff berth. But the storm has turned the home of the Bisons into the land of Narnia, with white snowy landscapes everywhere.

There have been unconfirmed reports of the game shifting to Cleveland, but something similar is yet to be lightened by the NFL.

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