The Coldest Outdoor Super Bowl Was In New Orleans | Weather.com
The Weather Channel

Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans will be played in the Caesars Superdome, but over 50 years ago the city was the site of the coldest Super Bowl played outdoors.

By

Chris Dolce

February 7, 2025

The Kansas City Chiefs participate during Super Bowl 59 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans.

The Kansas City Chiefs participate during Super Bowl 59 Opening Night, Monday, Feb. 3, 2025, in New Orleans, ahead of the NFL football game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday.

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Sign up for the Morning Brief email newsletter to get weekday updates from The Weather Channel and our meteorologists.

S​uper Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles will be played comfortably indoors in New Orleans this Sunday, but more than 50 years ago, the city played host to the coldest outdoor version of the Big Game in history.

H​ighs are forecast to be near daily records for Super Bowl weekend. Those enjoying the outdoors and tailgating up to the start of Sunday's game in the Caesars Superdome can throw on shorts and t-shirts as highs will hover right around 80 degrees.

Weather in your inbox
By signing up you agree to the Terms & Privacy Policy. Unsubscribe at any time.

Afternoon temperatures could climb near the city's daily record highs since 1946 of 81 degrees (Saturday) and 82 (Sunday).

New Orleans forecast highs this weekend.

Fifty-three years ago, New Orleans shivered through an outdoor Super Bowl. Prior to the opening of the Superdome in 1975, football was played outdoors in New Orleans.

In the mid-1960s, then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle told David Dixon, while lobbying for the NFL to expand into the Big Easy, that it would require the construction of a new, domed stadium for the league to award the city an expansion franchise.

Due to political and construction delays, the Superdome was not completed in time for Super Bowl VI on Jan. 16, 1972. Therefore, the clash between the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins would take place outdoors at Tulane Stadium.

The weather didn't fully cooperate – notice the fans in the photo below were wearing coats. The high temperature for the day only reached 43 degrees, far below the average of 62 degrees, the coldest Super Bowl played outdoors.

The cold didn't seem to bother the Dallas Cowboys, whose "Doomsday Defense" kept the Miami Dolphins out of the endzone in a 24-3 romp.

Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese (12) is sacked by Cowboys defensive tackle Bob Lilly in Super Bowl VI on Jan. 16, 1972.

(Associated Press)

The most recent outdoor Super Bowl to have jacket-worthy temperatures was Feb. 3, 2014, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The high for the day reached 55 and the kickoff temperature was 49, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That's fairly comfortable for the New York City metro area given the time of year, especially since 8 inches of snow fell near the stadium the following day, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center.

The coldest Super Bowl Sunday for an indoor game was on Feb. 4, 2018, in Minneapolis. Though the temperature was pleasant inside U.S. Bank Stadium for Super Bowl LII, in which the Philadelphia Eagles topped the New England Patriots, the high for the day outside the stadium only reached the single digits.

T​he next Super Bowl to potentially have a weather factor is next year. Super Bowl LX will be played outdoors at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 8, 2026. Given that's squarely in California's wet season, the weather conditions will be a possible story to watch.

With weather in mind, here's a look at the wettest, hottest and windiest Super Bowls.

S​outh Florida was home to the wettest Super Bowl 17 years ago. Out of the 11 Super Bowls played in Miami, the Feb. 4, 2007, game between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears was most affected by weather. Almost an inch of rain fell on Super Bowl Sunday, with winds gusting to 20 mph.

There were eight turnovers, including five lost fumbles, perhaps what you might expect for a game played in rain.

Miami averages only seven February days with rain, as the month is squarely in Florida's dry season. However, moisture overrunning a stationary front over the Florida Straits was enough to soak this Super Bowl.

Certainly Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and head coach Tony Dungy will never forget hoisting the Lombardi Trophy in the rain in South Florida.

Quarterback Peyton Manning #18 of the Indianapolis Colts lines up with teammates in the rain at Super Bowl XLI. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Quarterback Peyton Manning #18 of the Indianapolis Colts lines up with teammates in the rain at Super Bowl XLI against the Chicago Bears defense on February 4, 2007 at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

(Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

Southern California is home to the three warmest Super Bowl games in history. The warmest was Super Bowl VII on Jan. 14, 1973, in Los Angeles, which the Pro Football Hall of Fame lists a kickoff temperature of 84 degrees for a matchup that saw the Miami Dolphins defeat the Washington Redskins (now known as the Commanders), 14-7, capping out the only undefeated season (including playoffs) in NFL history.

2022's game was also played in the Los Angeles metro area and was nearly as warm.

Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium, which dubs itself as the "first indoor-outdoor stadium to be constructed,​" had a kickoff temperature of 82 degrees. That tied Super Bowl XXXVII on Jan. 26, 2003, in San Diego as the second-warmest game.

(192-hours: Further beef up your forecast with our detailed, hour-by-hour breakdown for the next 8 days – only available on our Premium Pro experience.)

W​ind has been a factor in multiple Super Bowls. Super Bowl XIV in Pasadena, California, on Jan. 20, 1980, is one of the five windiest in history, according to the Southeast Regional Climate Center. That day had gusts up to 30 mph out of the northeast.

Wind gusts up to 29 mph were clocked before the kickoff of Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California, on Feb. 7, 2016, but conditions turned calmer during the game itself.

Wind gusts up to 25 mph were recorded on the day of Super Bowl XVIII in Tampa, Florida (1984), and Super Bowl XXIII in Miami (1989).

Finally, the wettest Super Bowl mentioned earlier in this article was also among the windiest. Winds gusted up to 20 mph during the soaked Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

Chris Dolce has been a senior digital meteorologist with weather.com for nearly 15 years after beginning his career with The Weather Channel in the early 2000s.