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After years of worry about Super Bowl XLVIII being the first to be held outdoors at a cold-weather venue, Sunday night's 6:25 p.m. ET kickoff will be greeted by mild temperatures and possibly some rain.
AccuWeather is calling for a high of 51 degrees Sunday in East Rutherford, N.J., site of Super Bowl 48 between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. Game time temperature is expected to be 45 degrees, which would not threaten the coldest temperature ever for a Super Bowl kickoff. In the 2002 game in New Orleans between the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams the temperature at kickoff was 39 degrees.
There is a 50 percent chance of a passing shower early in the evening, but that is expected to pass quickly.
Yes, it was bitterly cold early in the week as Super Bowl festivities kicked off around New York City. The game, however, appears unlikely to be impacted by the weather.
That is a far cry from the last NFL Championship Game held in New York City, when the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers played at Yankee Stadium in 13-degree weather with wind gusts bringing the wind chill to -25 degrees.