Meteorologists watching potential for lake effect snow during Steelers-Bills playoff game
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Steelers and Bills may be playing in a winter wonderland for the Wild Card game this weekend. It is already known that it will be cold and windy but snow could be a factor as well.
There is no doubt the game is going to be cold and windy. Meteorologists are in agreement with that. The big question is the snow.
"It is going to be Buffalo in January, and Buffalo so far hasn't been Buffalo in January. We're really getting a taste of it here," said Todd Santos, the chief meteorologist with our CBS affiliate in Buffalo.
Currently snow is in the forecast, but it all depends on what the lake effect snow machine does up there. A little wind can have a huge impact.
"You could just get a subtle shift in wind direction and you're talking moving a band of accumulating snow down 10 miles," NWS Pittsburgh Meteorologist Matt Brudy said.
Santos said there may be some snow on the ground Sunday, but it's expected to pick up as the game goes on.
"If it were me and I were talking to the team, I would say, 'This is a run game.' You have to plan out some routes to get you in and out of there because it's not going to be easy for some of those longer throws or kicks," Santos said.
Ground crews will be prepared. Jeffrey Fowler with the Penn State Cooperative Extension works closely with grounds crews all over the world. He said the Bills crew has seen snow before.
"Armageddon could hit them and they wouldn't even know the difference," Fowler said over Zoom.
They will have a tarp over the field until the last minute. With it being a synthetic field, that should prevent it from freezing. The crews will use plows and shovels to move the snow as it accumulates during the game. For the safety of players, the NFL is always checking field conditions.
"That all gets monitored by the NFL throughout the game as to what needs to be done and what doesn't need to be done," Fowler said.
