According to NBC News, a spokesperson for HCA Midwest Health confirmed that twelve patients required amputation surgeries after frigid temperatures, with wind chill temperatures in the minus twenties, affected the Kansas City region in January. The Associated Press confirms that some of those people attended the Kansas City Chiefs – Miami Dolphins game on January 13th. While experts caution that it is too early to conclusively link attending the game with such outcomes, my meteorologist mind immediately circled back to that day. The Buffalo Bills moved a game due to significant lake effect snowfall expected on the same date. Why do extreme cold temperatures not warrant the same actions as other types of weather risks?
As context, the coldest NFL game on record is still the “Ice Bowl” played in Green Bay Wisconsin in 1967. With the wind, it felt like minus 48 F. While often glorified, a recent Dallas Morning News article articulated the frostbite, agony and realities of that historic day. Concerning the Chiefs game in January, I spoke with CNN at the time and told Ben Morse, “…. We often don’t see the same level of risk aversion to extreme temperature events in the same way that we might see for a landfalling hurricane or a tornado barreling through a community of homes.” In my expert opinion, temperatures in Kansas City were dangerously cold and posed a risk. I was concerned about stadium workers, parking attendants, fans, coaches, and players. Extreme temperatures, cold or hot, are consistently the deadliest weather in the United States annually.
The National Weather Service sounded the alarm for dangerously cold temperatures in Kansas City. They posted very clear warnings about conditions on various social media platforms. Their recommendations to avoid hypothermia and frostbite included covering exposed skin, layered clothing, and limiting time outdoors. NFL football games can last for over three hours. According the National Weather Service website, wind chills like those experienced during that football game means, “Frostbite is possible within 15 minutes.” Hypothermia describes a condition in which body temperature is dangerously low and can happen due to cold weather exposure. NWS cautions, “Hypothermia deaths can occur with temperatures between 30 and 50 degrees.”
I think back to a 2019 American Meteorological Society panel on weather safety at outdoor events. The panel summary stated, “Each year, millions of Americans invest time and money to attend sporting, entertainment, and recreational events at venues ranging in size from intimate parks to large fairgrounds and stadiums…. Fatalities, injuries, and damage have occurred at venues due to lightning, wind gusts, extreme heat, hail, flooding, ice and snow, extreme cold, tornadoes, and hurricanes.” There are typically policies in place to pause or cancel games or events if lightning is within a certain radius of the venue. Sporting events or activities are often canceled, postponed or relocated if a hurricane or tornadic weather is expected.
These actions are taken as precautionary measures because of the expectation that weather can cause harm. Why don’t extreme temperatures evoke similar actions? Even after the news broke about amputations, I saw narratives on social media that seemed to blame the victims. There were arguments on social media opining that only a small percentage of people had amputations compared to the number of people exposed or that they did not take proper precautions. Look I get it. It gets very cold in some parts of the country. Canceling events because of extreme temperatures would affect so many things quite frequently.
As a reminder, lightning happens all of the time too. We postpone or cancel events because of it. In 2023, the Australian Open Heat Stress Scale reached 5 so play was suspended. To me that is prudent, even though extreme heat is very common. Someone could just make an argument that fans or players just need to prepare better for the heat.
My point is that we stop or cancel sporting events all of the time as a precaution for the players or fans. The American Meteorological Society’s Statement on Weather Safety at Venues and Public Gatherings nails it by saying, “It is important for venue operators and event organizers to be situationally aware of every weather risk that can occur, and proactively plan to mitigate those risks.” For me, that means moving beyond business as usual with extreme cold. There is a reason the NWS said, “Limit time outdoors.”
