NFL Playoff Weather: One Last Check Before Vikings/Seahawks

We're a little less than six hours away from kickoff at TCF Bank Stadium between the Seattle Seahawks and the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC playoffs. With the temperature fluctuating a little bit over the past couple of days, it's time to take one last look at what the weather experts out there are looking at as far as the temperatures are concerned for this one.

We'll be using the same three civilian weather sources that we've used in our past couple of updates, those being Weather Underground, Accuweather, and The Weather Channel. This update is coming at approximately 6 AM Central time, so things might fluctuate a little bit, but it shouldn't be too much.

Let's start with the warmest of the three at this point, at least in terms of raw temperature, that being the forecast from the folks at Accuweather.

Damn you, Accuweather, for putting your data in a horizontal format rather than a vertical one.

But anyway, the folks at Accuweather don't have the winds kicking up very much, as they have them coming from the west/southwest at about 6 miles an hour. That's why the "RealFeel" temperature isn't a lot lower than the actual temperature on their forecast. The current observation from MSP is showing winds out of the northwest at 10 MPH, with a temperature of -9 and a "RealFeel" of -27.

The other two forecast, from The Weather Channel and Weather Underground, are basically the same, so we can group them together. The Weather Channel's look is first on our pictures here.

Both of those sites have the temperature (-3) and the "Feels Like" temperature (-18) forecast to be the same. Their winds aren't too much different from the Accuweather forecast, but they do have a more northwesterly component, which is what we're currently seeing on the observations.

The National Weather Service also has a Wind Chill Advisory effective until noon Central time, which will affect you tailgating types out there.

... Wind Chill Advisory now in effect until noon CST today...

* wind chill values... 25 to 30 below... but improving during the late morning as winds diminish and temperatures rise.

Precautionary/preparedness actions...

A Wind Chill Advisory means that very cold air and strong winds will combine to generate low wind chills. This will result in frostbite and lead to hypothermia if precautions are not taken. When venturing outdoors... make sure you wear a hat and gloves.

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be freaking cold out there. Make sure that you're dressed appropriately for the conditions, whether you're tailgating (which is going to be even colder) or sitting in the stands or whatever it might be. Heck, even if you're not going to the game and are just going to be out and about in the Twin Cities today.