We all know outdoor sports are subject to weather, but there are some times it causes more problems than others. The National Weather Service office in Louisville compiled a list of some of the biggest weather events that have impacted football games. Since weather is mostly played outside in the elements, the list of times weather has impacted a football game is seemingly endless. Use the links at the top of this article to share with me on social media your most memorable experiences of weather impacting a football game. 

I (Hannah) picked my top five from that list to include here. If you want to see what else the National Weather Service highlighted, click here.

December 9, 1934 "Sneaker Game"

In the 2nd Annual NFL Championship game, the Chicago Bears were playing the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York, a rematch of the previous season's championship game. Temperatures were in the teens and twenties with a mix of freezing drizzle and snow flurries falling. The field was covered in ice, and as the game got underway, the players had a tough time getting good footing in the frozen ground.  Apparently one of the Giants players said that sneakers would work better on the ice than their cleats were. He said this as they trailed the Bears 13-3. One of the assistants for the Giants also worked at Manhattan College a few miles up the road, so the Giant's head coach sent the assistant there to get sneakers! He came back in the fourth quarter with nine pairs of basketball shoes. Playing in sneakers, the Giants scored 27 points in the fourth quarter to win the game 30-13. The map below via the National Weather Service shows the weather setup on this day.

Here's where it gets really strange. In 1956 the Bears again played the Giants in New York for the championship. It was December, the field was again frozen, and the Giants switched to sneakers during the game because the footing was so bad. This time the Giants won 47-7.

December 31, 1988 "Fog Bowl"

The Philadelphia Eagles were in a playoff game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field in downtown Chicago. The day started with clear sky, but by the second quarter dense fog rolled in from Lake Michigan. Visibility dropped down to 10-20 yards for the rest of the game! With visibility that bad, receivers couldn't see the ball when it was thrown, so this changed to a running game.  Fans and announcers couldn't see the field; the image below shows how quickly and dramatically visibility dropped. 26 of the combined 32 points were scored in the first half under good visibility; only 6 points were scored in the second half. The Bears won 20-12.

October 4, 1998 "Mud Bowl"

The second worst flash flood on record hit Kansas City as the Chiefs were taking on the Seattle Seahawks at Arrowhead Stadium. The game started nearly an hour late because of the rain and two rounds of storms during the day, and by the end of the day more than four inches had fallen at the stadium. Damages from the flooding were estimated to be $50 million, and eleven people died as a result of the flash flooding from the storms. In the midst of all of this, the game continued and seemed fairly unremarkable other than the heavy rain. The Chiefs ended up winning 17-6.

New Years Eve, 2000 "Snow Bowl"

You might not believe it from the name, but this game was played in Shreveport, Louisiana. About half an hour before kickoff of the 2000 Independence Bowl, snow began to fall and the wind picked up, blowing the snow around. The turf field had a covering of snow by the second quarter and snow continued to fall, so something had to be done. As luck would have it, there were machines that could be used to plow the field, a rarity in the deep south. During timeouts they pushed snow away so you could see the goal lines, end lines, and hash marks. "There might have been a different football game under normal conditions, but our team just never gave up," said Mississippi State Coach Jackie Sherrill, whose team beat Texas A&M in overtime 43-41. Nearly seven inches of snow fell in southwest Arkansas from this even, and the Shreveport Regional Airport record 2.2" - the highest total snowfall on a day in Shreveport since February 1, 1985. 

November 26, 2007 "The Monday Night Mudder"

Finally, because here in Kentuckiana we know to always bet the mudder, the Monday Night Mudder. The winless Miami Dolphins were playing at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh against the Steelers. No one scored until 17 seconds before time ran out when the Steelers kicked a field goal to win. That was the first time since 1943 a game had gone that long with no score, and it was the lowest scoring game since 1993. The game should have been a blowout; the Steelers were in playoff contention and the Dolphins hadn't won a game all season.

The day before this game, new sod was laid on top of the old natural field which prevented good draining. The start of the game was delayed 25 minutes for lightning, proving storms were still dumping heavy rain before the game. 1.39" of rain fell on Heinz Field the day of the game. With all that rain and poor drainage, the field obviously got very muddy very quickly. Players had a hard time finding footing, and rules were put in place after the game to ensure field conditions would never be that bad again. The lines on the field had to be redrawn. The most iconic moment of this muddy mess was a punt that got stuck in the ground when it fell.