Louisville, KY

Weather Forecast Office

Football Weather

October 4, 1998
	Kansas City's second worst flash flood on record struck the city during a game between the Chiefs and the Seattle Seahawks. Up to five inches of rain drenched the metro area, including four inches at Arrowhead Stadium, and delayed the start of the game by 54 minutes. The Chiefs won the Mud Bowl 17-6.

October 15, 1984
	Up to 15 inches of snow fell in the Denver area during the Broncos-Packers game. The home team won 17-14 during the "Bronco Blizzard."

November 25, 1950
	Michigan beat Ohio State 9-3 in the "Blizzard Bowl" in Columbus, OH. The morning temperature was 5 degrees with 40mph wind gusts. Driving snow shrouded the players on the field as the intense storm swept from the Great Lakes to the Appalachians.

November 25, 1993

The Thanksgiving Day game between the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins was memorable because of the heavy sleet that covered the field at Texas Stadium during the game. The Sleet Bowl "was so bad," said Emmitt Smith, "that we might as well have worn ice skates." With 15 seconds left and the Cowboys leading 14-13, the Dolphins lined up for a 41-yard field goal. Dallas successfully blocked the attempt, but Leon Lett slipped into the dead ball while trying to grab it, accidentally kicking it from the 7-yd line to the 1-yd line, making it live again. Miami recovered and kicked a field goal with 3 seconds left, handing Dallas a 16-14 loss.

November 26, 2007
	An inch and a half of rain saturated Heinz Field in Pittsburgh before the Monday Night Football game, leading to terrible footing for the Steelers and Miami Dolphins. The only points scored during the "Monday Night Mudder" were with Jeff Reed's 24-yard field goal with just 17 seconds left in the game. It was the first time since 1943 that a game went that long without scoring.

November 30, 1985
	Ice skates might have been better than cleats when Oklahoma played Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Freezing rain caused a glaze of ice on the field, making traction extremely difficult. Oklahoma shut out Oklahoma State 13-0 in front of only 44,000 hardy souls -- the smallest audience at an OU/OSU game between 1971 and 2006.

December 1-2, 1962

The Grey Cup (Canadian Football Championship) was played for 2 days in Toronto in very dense fog. The fog was so thick that spectators in the upper stands could not see the other side of the field. Eventually the fog got so bad during the "Grey Cup Fog Bowl" that it halted the championship game between Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers with 9:29 left to play. Winnipeg finally won Canada's Fog Bowl the following day by a score of 28-27. Check out this excellent page with photos, weather charts, and more information!

December 9, 1934

A frozen field made for very slippery conditions for the 2nd annual NFL Championship Game, held at the Polo Grounds. In the third quarter the Chicago Bears led the New York Giants 13-3. One of the Giants players remarked that sneakers would be more suitable for the icy playing surface. An assistant hurried to nearby Manhattan College and picked up nine pairs of sneakers. After switching to the sneakers, the Giants scored 27 points in the fourth quarter to win the game 30-13, and the "Sneakers Game" went down in history.

December 12, 1982

A driving snow kept the field covered during the NFL game between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots in Foxborough, MA. Near the end of the fourth quarter, with a 0-0 score, the Patriots plowed the snow away from a small part of the field, conveniently just enough for a field goal to be kicked. The goal was scored and the Patriots won 3-0. The game has become known as the Snowplow Game.

December 16, 1979

In Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers prepared to play the Kansas City Chiefs as rain began to pour on what was about to become the "1979 Monsoon Game." The field was covered in water and mud, and water was flowing down the stadium steps like a waterfall. The Buccaneers picked up a win with the score of 3-0 on a 19 yard field goal in the fourth quarter. The Tampa Bay NWS office has put together an excellent write-up about this event.

December 16, 2007
	Intense lake effect snow bands invaded the Cleveland area as the Browns played the Buffalo Bills, completely covering the field. Both teams are used to playing in the snow, but the game had a low score anyway as the Browns won the "Lake Effect Bowl" 8-0.

December 19, 1948

A snowstorm struck Philadelphia during an NFL game at Shibe Park between the Eagles and the Chicago Cardinals. The game started 30 minutes late, in part because the players had to be recruited to help remove the hay and snow-laden tarp from the field. The goal posts were not visible from the 50-yard line in the driving snow. The Eagles won, 7-0. Seven inches of snow fell during the game according to official NWS records.

December 31, 1967
	The Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 21 to 17 in what has come to be known as the Ice Bowl. It was 13 degrees below zero at Lambeau Field, and the wind chill was -40.

December 31, 1988

The Chicago Bears beat the Eagles 20 to 12 in the playoff game known as the Fog Bowl. Though the game began with clear blue skies and perfect visibility, just before half-time a dense fog rolled in from Lake Michigan. Visibility was less than 20 yards. The fans and the announcers couldn't see the game! Between the two teams, 26 points were scored in the first half with clear skies, and just 6 points in the foggy second half.

December 31, 2000

Despite being played in the Deep South, the 2000 Independence Bowl will be remembered as the Snow Bowl. About 30 minutes before kickoff snow blew into Shreveport, LA with strong winds whipping from one end zone to the other. The game started with the synthetic grass field a mix of green and white. By the second quarter, the turf was blanketed by snow. Plows were used during timeouts to make the goal lines, end lines, and hash marks visible. Snow fell throughout the game. Mississippi State beat Texas A&M 43 to 41 in overtime.

January 1, 1979

Chicken Soup Game seats

A New Year's Eve ice storm covered Dallas in a thick glaze, and was followed by a very cold January 1 as the University of Houston Cougars met Notre Dame's Fighting Irish in the 43rd Cotton Bowl Classic. Notre Dame started strong, scoring the first 12 points of the game. However, star quarterback Joe Montana, playing in his final game for Notre Dame, was battling influenza in addition to the Cougars, and had to return to the locker room. His absence, plus mistakes by the Irish and a north wind favoring Houston's field position, resulted in the Cougars leading ND 20-12 at halftime. Meanwhile, Joe was given a bowl of hot chicken soup in the locker room in efforts to raise his core body temperature and make him feel a little better. Play resumed, and with 7:37 left on the game clock with Houston punishing Notre Dame 34-12, Montana took his position on the field. With Montana in the game the Irish offense was able to struggle back, and the score was 34-27, Houston, with just 2 seconds left in regulation. Notre Dame had possession, and Joe threw the ball out-of-bounds to stop the clock. On the final play, with nothing on the clock, Kris Haines received a touchdown pass from Montana to make the score 34-33. Placekicker Joe Unis was then forced to kick the extra point twice after a Notre Dame penalty and was successful both times, resulting in the Irish's amazing comeback win of 35-34. Though Joe Montana and his bowl of chicken soup get a lot of credit for winning the Chicken Soup Game, meteorology may have been Notre Dame's rightful MVP that day as a stiff north wind greatly benefitted whichever offense was headed downwind. Almost all of the game's 69 points were scored by the team defending the north end zone.

January 1, 1993
	Twenty-seven points were scored in the first half of the 1993 Orange Bowl between Florida State and Nebraska. However, heavy rainfall throughout the second half forced both teams to be more conservative and only 14 points were scored. The rainfall was so heavy during the game that it has been called the Monsoon Bowl ever since. The Seminoles beat the Cornhuskers 27-14.

January 10, 1982
	The Cincinnati Bengals beat San Diego in the AFC Championship 27-7. The temperature dropped to -9 as the game was played in Cincinnati. The wind was blowing over 50 mph, making the wind chill factor 59 degrees below zero which is the coldest wind chill ever recorded during an NFL game. Fans' beers froze in their cups. The game is nicknamed the Freezer Bowl.

January 19, 2002

The AFC 2001 divisional playoff game was played during a heavy snowstorm, pitting the Oakland Raiders against the New England Patriots. With less than two minutes left to play, the Patriots were trailing 13-10. New England QB Tom Brady dropped back to pass but dropped the ball after being hit by Oakland's Charles Woodson. The play was originally ruled a fumble, but that call was reversed upon review and was instead declared an incomplete forward pass because Brady lost the ball as he was attempting to tuck it back toward his body. Possession then went to New England, who went on to kick a field goal to send the game into overtime. New England ended up winning 16-13 on another field goal, and eventually went on to win Super Bowl XXXVI. The game has come to be known as the "Tuck Rule Game."