CHICAGO – If you like “Bear Weather,” then Saturday will be your day at Soldier Field.
An incoming winter storm will bring snow to the Chicagoland area on Thursday and Friday before bitterly cold temperatures settle in ahead of the Bears’ match-up with the Bills at Noon on Saturday.
It will make for one of the colder games in the history of Soldier Field since the Bears started calling the venue home in 1971.
How cold will it be on Saturday?
According to WGN-TV meteorologists Mike Janssen, the temperature around the noon kickoff will be 9 degrees under sunny skies. But that’s not going to help much since it will all be about the wind chill, which is expected to be around minus 10 to minus 15 degrees.
That’s thanks to winds out of the west that will be around 20 miles per hour with gusts going up to 30-35 miles per hour.
There won’t be much of a warm-up as the afternoon goes on, according to Janssen, who says it will hover around 10 degrees with the wind chills around minus 10 degrees.
When was the last time it was this cold for a Bears’ home game?
If the game starts under ten degrees, it would be the coldest game at Soldier Field since December 9, 2013.
It was 8 degrees when the Bears kicked off with the Cowboys on Monday Night Football and the atmosphere was just right for the team. Aided by five total touchdowns from backup quarterback Josh McCown – four passing and one rushing – the hosts beat Dallas 45-28.
The game was historic, since Hall of Famer Mike Ditka, who had a celebrated career with the Bears as a tight end and head coach, had his No. 89 retired by the franchise at halftime.
What is the coldest Soldier Field home game in Bears’ history?
If going by high temperature, the coldest game in history happened on December 22, 2008, when the Bears hosted the Packers on Monday Night Football.
It was 2 degrees at kickoff for the match-up between the NFC North rivals and everyone at Soldier Field got to stay in the cold weather a little longer.
That’s because the game went to overtime, with the Bears prevailing 20-17 on a Robbie Gould field goal.
