It’s that time of year again in Western New York. The Buffalo metro area is bracing for heavy lake-effect snowfall leading up to kickoff between the Bills (9-2) and 49ers (5-6) on “Sunday Night Football.”
According to the National Weather Service, Northern Erie County, where Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium is located, could see as much as one-to-two feet of total snow accumulation by Sunday evening. Snow showers are expected to begin late Friday with a lake-effect snow warning in effect from 7 a.m. ET on Saturday until 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, about 90 minutes before kickoff at 8:20 p.m. ET.
The NWS warns, “Travel will be very difficult to impossible in areas of heavy lake effect snow with deep snow cover on roads and extremely poor visibility.”
The Bills organization is also making preparations ahead of time, putting out a public call for show shovelers on Friday.
Winter is coming. 🥶
In anticipation of the upcoming snowfall, we’re asking Bills Mafia to register to be a prospective snow shoveler: https://t.co/EMTU21J4zz pic.twitter.com/szhuelS0Va
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 29, 2024
Asked this week about potential impact of the wintery conditions, head coach Sean McDermott mostly downplayed the weather while giving a nod to the fans.
“We have some experience with it,” head coach Sean McDermott said Wednesday. “We can’t control the weather. … Our staff does a phenomenal job. The people that have shown up for the years that I’ve been here at a minimum — and beyond my time here — of shoveling the stadium out. I think that’ll happen again if need be and we’ll get ready to play a football game.”
Following San Francisco’s final practice of the week on Friday, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters, “It’s part of the deal. We pay attention to it. Not necessarily how cold always, but mainly the wind, snow and stuff like that. … I know in Buffalo sometimes it can snow three feet in one spot and not snow 20 minutes away. So, you’ve really got to be ready for anything and deal with whatever it is at 8 (p.m.).”
Temperatures at kickoff are expected to be in the mid-20s with winds between 5-10 mph.
(Photo: Timothy T Ludwig / Getty Images)
