Fans heading for the Super Bowl on Sunday are bracing for it to be the coldest in history with temperatures in chilly Minneapolis due to drop well below freezing.
Officials are warning fans to plan sensibly before Sunday’s 5.30pm kick-off in fear that if they are stuck outside for too long, they may develop frostbite.
Temperatures will remain in the low single digits in Minneapolis on Sunday, climbing to 6F at its warmest.
It could go as low as -1F and forecasters say the wind chill will compound the biting freeze.
Ice Sculptures on display during Super Bowl LII Week- likely to be the coldest on record
The temperatures will be well below freezing and could hit -1F with a high of just 6F
Fans gather in the cold weather during the Super Bowl LIVE, a 10-day fan festival leading up to Super Bowl LII, taking place on Minneapolis Nicollet Mall in Downtown Minneapolis
Fans have a photo taken inside a Super Bowl LII frame while Sunday’s game is gearing up to be the coldest ever
The game itself will be played inside the U.S. Bank Stadium, keeping out the worst of the winter woes.
Tom Brady will attempt to write another chapter of NFL history on Sunday as the New England Patriots chase a record-equaling sixth Super Bowl crown against a Philadelphia Eagles team desperate for their first ever win. But at least the players will be warm inside the stadium.
But officials are still worried about people being outside for long stretches while lining up to pass security checks and gain access to the stadium.
They are advising people to dress warmly and not to drink too much which, doctors say, leads to increased cases of frostbite because people are not aware just how cold they really are when they are intoxicated.
The coldest Super Bowl on record was in 1982 in Detroit when it was 16 degrees.
That game was also played indoors.
Last year, fans enjoyed temperatures of 66F in Houston, Texas.
The warmest on record have both been in California when temperatures climbed to 82F.
The first was in Los Angeles in 1973 and the second was in San Diego in 2003.
The previous coldest was in Detroit, which was at 16 degrees as for Super Bowl XVI, on Jan. 24, 1982.
Security officials say the easiest and warmest way into the game is the offsite security check at the Mall of America, located about nine miles south of the U.S. Bank Stadium.
From there Gameday Fan Express Pass’ light rail to the game will transport fans and costs $30. You need to have your Super Bowl ticket to ride.
‘This is, by far, — and I want to reiterate this — this is, by far, the easiest and the warmest way to get into the stadium on game day,’ NFL security chief Cathy Lanier said.
Lanier added that warm clothing is crucial.
‘This is very important for us to make sure that people who are coming here and visiting for the Super Bowl to please dress appropriately.’
People sit on a warming bench in cold weather during the Super Bowl LIVE fan festival
Cross Country Skiers on Birkebeiner International Bridge during Super Bowl LII Week
The exterior of a chilly US Bank Stadium prior to the upcoming NFL Super Bowl LII
‘Even if you are only out for a few minutes, it can get quite cold here. You need to dress in layers, hats, gloves, scarves covering your extremities (and) comfortable shoes or boots,’ Lanier said earlier in the week, according to USA Today.
Battery-operated warmers will not be allowed into the stadium, Lanier said.
Sanj Kakar, a hand surgeon at the Mayo Clinic who often treats frostbite suggests limiting alcohol intake.
‘Your judgment could be impaired, so you remain out in the cold longer than you should,’ Kakar said. ‘Alcohol also make the blood vessels in your body dilate, so the heat goes right up through your skin. When it’s cold, the blood should be diverted to your central core.’
‘This is Minnesota. It’s not going to be Florida balmy. But it’s going to be Minnesota cold, and we’re proud of it,’ Minneapolis Gov. Mark Dayton said.
‘We’re proud of our state. And we’re just very much willing to welcome everybody who wants to come up here.’
Officials say the Super Bowl wouldn’t have come to Minnesota’s northern climate without U.S. Bank Stadium, which opened in 2016.
Dayton and Minnesota lawmakers in 2012 approved a financing package for the facility, which had taxpayers paying nearly half the cost of the $1.1 billion stadium.
A fan stands in cold weather during the Super Bowl LIVE ahead of Sunday’s Eag
People walk past an ice and snow covered ‘XVI’ display in front of the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan during the week of Super Bowl XVI
Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said Monday the partnership that got the roofed stadium built ‘is a great template for other cities to see that it’s not just a one-way street.’
Wilf said that while locales in warmer climates are more likely to draw future Super Bowls, this joint venture between the owners and the city and state resulted in what he called ‘the best stadium in the United States.’
According to the Weather Channel parts of the northern Plains, Midwest, mid-Atlantic and Northeast can expect below to well-below-average temperatures. The most anomalously cold temperatures will stretch from northern Minnesota into northern New England.
A little farther west and south, portions of the central Plains and South may experience near-to-slightly-below average temperatures.
A storm system that is set to drag cold air and snow across much of the country this weekend was just beginning to move east over Seattle on Thursday afternoon.
Bundle up: Super Bowl ticket holders are in for a frigid day, with the stadium security asking people to dress warmly
Layers and a plan to get indoors as quickly as possible as temps will feel negative five degrees
The weather in Minneapolis is projected to be 7F according to the Weather Network
‘Snow will be possible from the Great Lakes region south to the Central/Southern Appalachians and areas to the east over the next couple of days,’ the National Weather Service said in a flash bulletin.
‘The snow over the Great Lakes will be enhanced by the lakes. Temperatures will be significantly colder Friday and into the weekend.’
The snow storm will move over Minneapolis on Saturday, but skies will clear there for the big game on Sunday, according to forecasts from the Weather Channel.
The storm system is forecast to move over the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley on Saturday night into Sunday, hitting New England and the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday.
Friday was the coldest night of the weekend on the East Coast, with temperatures in the teens from Washington DC northward.
By Sunday, when the storm system hits the East Coast, temperatures are forecast to rebound, with lows above freezing from Boston on south down the 1-95 corridor.