Buffalo playoff game postponed, travel ban issued amid blizzard threat

Intense bands of lake-effect snow expected to whip across western New York this weekend forced officials to postpone Sunday’s highly-anticipated playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) issued a winter storm warning for the Buffalo area this weekend as a formidable lake-effect snow squall could douse the region with knee-high accumulations and whiteout conditions.

Originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, kickoff is now scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Monday, officials announced on Saturday afternoon.

"A full travel ban for passenger vehicles will be in effect for all of Erie County beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday," New York Governor Kathy Hochul's office announced on Saturday. "This ban will be reassessed at 6 a.m. on Sunday."

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While the worst conditions will unfold through Sunday, bands of snow will continue into the day Monday.

Any Canadians heading over the border for the game should use extreme caution. Road conditions change rapidly around lake-effect snow squalls; relatively calm skies can give way to a whiteout over very short distances.

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A surge of Arctic air will flood across the Great Lakes region in the wake of the major winter storm plowing through Ontario to start the weekend. Widespread whiteouts and thundersnow covered southern Ontario on Friday evening.

Frigid westerly winds blowing down the length of an unfrozen Lake Ontario will set the stage for an aggressive lake-effect snow squall to develop over western New York, focusing its ire on the Buffalo area in particular.

The Bills and Steelers originally planned to face off at Highmark Stadium at 1:00 p.m. local time on Sunday. The stadium is located in Orchard Park, New York, which is about 14 km south of Buffalo proper, and about 6 km from the eastern shores of Lake Ontario.

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Powerful wind gusts in excess of 100 km/h could accompany snowfall rates of 4-6 cm per hour, leading to “frequent whiteout and blizzard conditions at times,” the NWS office in Buffalo said in a forecast discussion on Friday evening. Snowfall totals could easily exceed 40 cm in the hardest-hit communities.

The band of snow will likely oscillate a bit as it blows off Lake Ontario, shifting a few kilometres northwest and back southeast again through the day Saturday. This will serve to keep snowfall totals a touch lower, while also exposing more highways and roads to treacherous conditions.

Bands of lake-effect snow will continue into the day Monday, though not as intense as what forecasters expect to unfold over the weekend.

While conditions are sometimes dangerous enough to force postponement or even moving to a different city, games often go on despite heavy wind-swept snow and frigid temperatures.

Local residents can even head down and help the Buffalo Bills shovel out the stadium before the game—for 20 bucks (USD) an hour and complimentary food and warm-up breaks, according to a post on the team’s website Friday.

Header satellite image courtesy of NOAA.

This article was updated on January 13, 2024, to reflect the game’s postponement.

WATCH: Friday’s winter storm hits Ontario with whiteouts and thundersnow

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