Getty The Buffalo Bills huddle during a 2017 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Buffalo Bills could be dealing with a few feet of snow when they face the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Forecasters in Buffalo are predicting “potentially historic” lake-effect snowfall late in the week and through Sunday that could dump more than two feet of snow on the region, Fox Weather’s Brandon Ingram reported. If the forecast plays out, it could make for not only difficult playing conditions but also a very complicated week for a Bills team facing a very short turnaround.
Buffalo Expects Heavy Snow
As Ingram reported, the Buffalo region will be hit with a storm that starts mid-week and lasts through the weekend.
“The FOX Forecast Center said a ‘potentially historic’ lake-effect snow event is setting its sights on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario,” Ingram noted.
The first punch of snow, which starts on Wednesday and lasts through Thursday morning, will bring close to 8 inches of snow through Western New York. There will then be more lake-effect snow bands hitting the region in the next three days, adding up to huge totals. The snowfall is expected to be very heavy at times, leaving more than one inch of snow per hour.
Browns, Bills in Buffalo: Over 2 feet of snow possible by Sunday’s game in New York
As Dale Anderson of the Buffalo News noted, this weekend’s storm has the potential to set records.
“The current record for Nov. 18 snowfall there is 8.2 inches, while the Nov. 19 record is 7.6 inches,” Anderson wrote. “With one-to-two inches expected per hour at the snowfall’s heaviest points, it’s possible these records could be broken ahead of Sunday’s game.”
The conditions could be especially difficult for the Bills, neutralizing Josh Allen and the passing game while handing an advantage to the run-heavy Browns. After starting the season 6-1, the Bills have endured a two-game losing streak that brought them out of the top spot in the AFC and dropped them to third place in the AFC East.
Allen has struggled through the last two losses, throwing two interceptions in each game and losing a costly fumble in Sunday’s 33-30 overtime loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Blizzard Could Complicate Busy Week
The Bills are no stranger to playing in snow, with some memorable blizzard games in recent years. The most notable was in 2017, when they defeated the Indianapolis Colts in overtime during a driving blizzard. The game would be pivotal to Buffalo’s season, as they finished 9-7 and reached the playoffs for the first time in 17 seasons.
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But the Bills could also face complications if the blizzard forecast for this week were to cripple the region. After a November 2014 storm dumped several feet of snow in the Buffalo area — with snow drifts up to 10 feet — the NFL moved the Bills’ game against the New York Jets to Detroit, with the game being played on Monday night.
The Bills would have no such margin for error this week, as they are set to face the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving and would not be able to move the game back at all. Since the Bills have already had their bye week, there would also be little chance of rescheduling the game if the conditions grew too difficult.