Not wanting to derail the NFL threads in the Game Room:
The Chiefs are about to play the Dolphins this weekend in one of the coldest games in NFL history. Decades ago, the NFL also allowed the Ice Bowl to go ahead in 1967 in Green Bay, an even colder one.
If the Ice Bowl saw few or no hypothermia casualties, I don’t think this Kansas City game will either.
But what I wanted to ask was, at what level of cold does it get to a point where, if you insist on holding a big football game or outdoor concert or whatever anyway, that the 80,000 people who show up will probably lead to hundreds or even thousands of cold-related deaths?
Something like minus-60 degrees with a 30-mile-per-hour wind?
I assume they’ll be wearing reasonable clothing for the situation. I recall somewhere that people sufficiently warm air they breath at extremely low temps of -100° or lower. With enough insulation there’s no problem surviving those extreme temperatures. Any exposed or poorly insulated skin would be subject to rapid frostbite.
I don’t think many people will be well suited to survive at -30° though, especially in a wind. But there are 80,000 of them and if they bunch up the ones in the middle should be fine.
And even the coldest stadia will have some places to warm up, like bathrooms and the like. There were a few late season CFL games here in Ottawa where I went and ran my hands under the hot water for a while.
Chiefs fans are famous for their devotion when the team is good, as the Chiefs have been for the past several years. Last year, in the AFC championship game against the Bengals in bitterly cold weather, the stadium was still packed. Presumably, all fans who attended the game survived.
This year, however, KC isn’t quite as dominant. And this is a first-round playoff game. It will be interesting to see how many empty seats there are at kickoff.
And what about the players? And the cheerleaders, will nobody think of the cheerleaders? Will they be wearing moon booths and five layers of wool? Will the ball freeze in mid-air when thrown far enough? Will it shatter if it falls to the ground? How do I apply for a license to sell grog, mulled wine and Feuerzangenbowle? Questions, questions, questions…
Teams from Buffalo, NY to Pittsburg, Pa, to Green Bay WI are used to playing and practicing in very cold weather. Teams like the Miami Dolphins, not so much.
I cannot imagine an NFL game being cancelled due the temperature. Some games have been delayed or cancelled by the threat of thunder storms and lightning, but that is different.
The fans can stay or leave as they see fit, but it won’t stop the game.
Clearly we’d need a couple of things to happen beyond mere cold.
Lots of folks need to underdress for the actual conditions whatever they are.
Lots of those folks need to be too stoic / stupid / drunk to leave when they started transitioning from miserable to suffering real harm.
The authorities of NFL, stadium management, and local government all need to be asleep at the switch while folks are passing out and dying all over the stadium.
Seems pretty farfetched.
Thousands plural of deaths … If we assume exactly 2000 people die from an 80K crowd, that’s one person in 40 or 2.5%. If they all showed up in beachwear, stayed in their beachwear, and nobody did anything to stop them, I bet we could achieve that kill rate here in KC when game time temp is expected to be ~0F/-17C. Hell, we could probably do that at a comparatively balmy 32F/0C.
If everybody dresses for standing around in Antarctic winter we could probably have them all survive at Antarctic winter temps.
And as we consider lower and lower temperatures we would expect more and more fans to be in those restrooms, the first aid station, their cars, or more likely just gone home. It’s hard to not ‘fight the hypothetical’ with this one.
Doesn’t mild hypothermia already begin to affect judgement? Particular combined with having drunk alcohol (not necessarily being drunk), which makes you feel warm?
If you’re alone on the tundra, that might be a problem. But if you’re in a stadium surrounded by thousands of people, the ones who are still of sound mind are likely to notice when you’re having issues and offer/summon help.
I can easily see how someone who isn’t dressed as warmly as necessary will gradually become colder and colder and then, without realizing it, reach hypothermia, till he becomes weak and falls down.
And in a rowdy stadium, he could be mistaken for being drunk. But only for a few minutes. Being surounded by other people, it’s unlikely that they will leave him to die, when there are medical personnel close by.
