This Sunday’s NFL Game in Green Bay: Coldest Ever?

January 3rd, 2014 by Roy W. Spencer, Ph. D.

UPDATE: It is now looking like the coldest air is moving into Green Bay 6-12 hours later than expected, with the latest forecast for a 6 p.m. temperature being +1 deg. F, which would not break a record.

The latest GFSx MOS temperature forecast is now -8 deg. F -10 deg. F -8 deg. F -4 deg. F +1 deg. F for game time in Green Bay on Sunday evening for the playoff game between the Packers and the 49ers. This is getting awfully close to the record coldest NFL game temperature of -13 deg. F, set Dec. 31, 1967 at Lambeau Field during “The Ice Bowl”, the NFL Championship game between the Packers and Dallas Cowboys.

The 2nd coldest game was Jan. 10, 1982 at Riverfront Stadium during the AFC Championship game between Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers, at -9 deg. F, so Sundays game might take the #2 spot instead.

The deciding factor will be the timing of how fast the coldest air moves in on Sunday. The air mass is plenty cold enough to break the record, with a Monday high temperature forecast of -14 deg. F.

The top 10 coldest NFL games are listed here. Makes my hands hurt just thinking about it.


30 Responses to “This Sunday’s NFL Game in Green Bay: Coldest Ever?”

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  1. Jim Cripwell says:

    Like the Grey Cup, in Saskatchewan, this year.

  2. JCH says:

    I watched the Ice Bowl on a black and white TV near Gann Valley, South Dakota, which holds the state’s record high. The Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys. Green Bay had installed a heating system under the field, and it failed before the game. So rather than being frozen tundra, it was more like a hockey rink with grass in the ice.

    • falcontinker says:

      Any announcer who dares to ask, “So where’s that global warming?” may as well use the n-word in the next sentence because his career is dead.

  3. Mike says:

    Thank you, thank you, thank you X 100…

    for clear understandable information that I can share with Friends and Family.

    Happy New Year, and God Bless

  4. Michael says:

    FYI, from Fox Sports

    The technology has improved since 1967!

    What allowed me to wear so little in cold games was a cocktail Brian Urlacher and Muhsin Muhammad revealed to me. There is a cream called Warm Skin that we would mix with Vaseline and Tiger Balm.

    We would mix all these topicals together and rub them into our arms, legs, back … pretty much over our entire body. Make sure you put your jock on before you do this or you will get extremely uncomfortably hot in some of the wrong places.

    Plus, bench heaters, helmet warmers, underwear usually worn by cross country skiers, hand warmers in gloves, shoes, under pads, in socks and those warming packs that people use for back aches, etc. etc.

    Looking forward to watching the game from LA.

    Go Packers!

  5. RAH says:

    Those of you thinking your going to be watching the game from a nice warm place may be disappointed. They haven’t sold out the game and unless the NFL changes it’s rules, it will be blacked out!

    So let us hope some folks in Green Bay start buying up those extra tickets.

  6. RAH says:

    Yep, it’s sold out now according to the official Packers website and yes I could have watched it from my living room in Indiana anyway but the faithful Cheese heads in the heart cheese and paper country couldn’t have if it didn’t sell out. Sorry for not being more clear.

    I’m not a cheese head but I spent enough time up there to know that if Lambeau field and the Packers suddenly disappeared there would be mass hysteria, multiple suicides, and a complete cultural collapse in Green Bay and it’s environs.

    My Colts sold out as I knew they would but I have not found any story saying the Bengals have yet.

  7. bstarr says:

    Yup that 1967 game was a cold one !

    I had some trouble passing the ball cause my hands were so cold. Was happy we pulled out the win.

  8. fonzie says:

    i’m glad the niners beat the cards cause that would be the saints heading up there had they lost… (i live in new orleans)

  9. JackBuck says:

    I remember announcing that game. Just a legendary game from start to finish. Even in the broadcast booth I could feel how cold it was!

  10. NYGpuntguy says:

    I had been retired for several years by at the time that the Ice Bowl had been played, and it’s always felt like a missed opportunity that I didn’t get to play under those legendary conditions. Even though I’m dead now, I still think about it every day.

    -P. Summerall

  11. NotreDameKnute says:

    I would have loved to have coached in the Ice Bowl had I not died in the plane crash in the thirties. Back in my day, we didn’t have those sissy facemasks. Leather helmets were all we needed.

  12. eddiecochems1877 says:

    As father of the forward pass, I thought that the role of the quarterback was primarily to throw, not run. But bstarr’s sneak was still amazing to watch!

  13. PackerPete says:

    Happy New Year to all! I live just down the street from Lambeau Field. I’ve sat through many games over the years but will pass on this one on Sunday, to much arthritis to sit that long in the cold. And even if they hadn’t sold out I could still watch the game, I can see the new huge score board from my living room!!! Just spin the man chair around, face the corn burner with a cold one and put on Wayne and Larry on the radio!

    • RAH says:

      Packer Pete I took my training for driving a big truck up there with Schneider National. You probably hate those big yellow trucks with rookies at the wheel running all over town though based on the fact I see so many fewer Schneider trucks of the road now as compared to the past I doubt there are near as many running around town now as when I went through the training 9 years ago. I probably drove a big truck very near to your house.

      Very good training program. It has served me well.

      • PackerPete says:

        No I didn’t hate them, they meant there was jobs and money in the area. What I didn’t like was that they over trained in numbers of drivers and drove the wages for drivers way down. JB Hunt did the same thing. Not much training going on here anymore, not like the late ’80’s-early 2000’s.

  14. PackerPete says:

    Dr S, look up my first and my last name from my email address, that’s my dad if you find the Packer link.

  15. John M says:

    So I wonder if they’ll reissue this press release.

    https://web.archive.org/web/20090501190311/http://www.environmentamerica.org/news-releases/global-warming-solutions/global-warming-solutions/could-global-warming-threaten-the-patriots-and-giants-edge

    Note that I had to dig it out of the Way Back Machine, since for some reason, they pulled it off their web site. 🙂

  16. sky says:

    Anybody can predict temperatures! It’s the point-spreads that present a real challenge.

  17. Ted says:

    Game time temperature in Green Bay was +5F, so it wasn’t among the ten coldest NFL games.

  18. Jack says:

    Amazing how wrong you are all the time Dr. Spencer, I’m amazed anyone would ever listen to your Climatology studies or reports!

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