A forecast of blizzard-like conditions in Buffalo, N.Y., has forced the postponement of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoff game with the Bills from 1 p.m. Sunday to 4:30 p.m. Monday at Highmark Stadium.
New York Gov. Kathy Kathy Hochul announced the move Saturday, citing dangerous conditions in Buffalo through the weekend.
I’ve been in communication with @NFL commissioner Roger Goodell regarding the dangerous conditions in Buffalo this weekend.
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) January 13, 2024
In consultation with our emergency response teams, @BuffaloBills leadership, and the NFL, the Bills game will be postponed to 4:30 pm Monday.
The National Weather Service forecast for the Buffalo area includes a winter storm warning from 10 a.m. Saturday to 7 a.m. Monday, with heavy lake-effect snow, "very strong winds" with gusts up to 65 mph and snow accumulations of 1 to 3 feet.
"Blizzard conditions will be possible at times, especially [Saturday night] and Sunday," the weather service said, adding that "travel will be very difficult to impossible at times, with deep snow cover on roads."
The Bills said the game has been rescheduled "in the best interest of public safety."
An update on our Super Wild Card game. #PITvsBUF pic.twitter.com/0JuHh6ls5i
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) January 13, 2024
Prior to Hochul's announcement, the Bills issued a call to fans age 18 and over for help shoveling snow out of their Highmark stadium, starting at 10 p.m. Saturday, in order to get the venue ready for the NFL Wildcard Playoff with the Steelers. It's now unclear if that offer will be extended to prepare for the game on Monday.
On Saturday in Buffalo, officials advised residents to stay off the roads starting at nightfall on Saturday, with a driving ban taking effect at 9 p.m.
"We want our Bills to win, but we don't want 60,000 to 70,000 people traveling to the football game in what's going to be horrible conditions," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference in the Buffalo suburbs.
Hochul said she started talking with the NFL on Thursday about the possibility of having to reschedule the game. From her hometown of Buffalo, she closed her news conference by saying, "Go, Bills."
Much of the storm was expected to be concentrated in a narrow band of lake-effect snow hovering over Buffalo's southern suburbs, which includes the Bills' home in Orchard Park.
The Steelers have pushed back their travel plans and will now head to Buffalo on Sunday.
The Bills are familiar with weather-related schedule changes. In 2022, a lake effect storm led to Buffalo's home game against Cleveland being moved to Detroit in November. A month later, a massive blizzard forced the Bills to delay their trip home, forcing them to stay overnight in Chicago on Christmas Eve.
As a result of the change in schedule to the Steelers' game, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced they would be changing the start of their scheduled 6 p.m. Monday game against the Seattle Kraken to 1 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
