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New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Saturday that the Wild Card game between the Steelers and the Buffalo Bills, originally scheduled for Sunday, will be moved to Monday afternoon amid a forecast for dangerous winter weather.Hochul posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that she had been in consultation with emergency personnel, the Bills and the NFL about the matter. The NFL and Bills issued a statement citing “public safety concerns” as the reason to push back the game by a day. The Steelers were set to face the Bills at Highmark Stadium Sunday at 1 p.m. However, the weather forecast for Buffalo had already forced the Bills on Friday to request volunteers to shovel snow ahead of the game.The forecast for the Buffalo area called for heavy snow and winds gusting as high as 65 mph (105 kph) Saturday, with 1 to 2 feet or more of snow eventually piling up. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning lasting through 7 a.m. Monday, saying that “travel will be very difficult to impossible at times,” with the combination of snow and very strong wind causing near-zero visibility.Much of the storm was expected to be concentrated in a narrow band of lake-effect snow hovering over Buffalo’s southern suburbs, which includes the Bills’ home in Orchard Park.The Steelers will now face the Bills Monday at 4:30 p.m., Hochul said. Hochul also announced “a full travel ban” in Erie County, where Buffalo is the county seat, starting Saturday at 9 p.m.“We want our Bills to win, but we don’t want 60,000 to 70,000 people traveling to the football game in what’s going to be horrible conditions,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference in the Buffalo suburbs. The Steelers have pushed back their travel plans and will now head to Buffalo on Sunday.The Bills are familiar with weather-related schedule changes. In 2022, a lake effect storm led to Buffalo’s home game against Cleveland being moved to Detroit in November. A month later, a massive blizzard forced the Bills to delay their trip home, forcing them to stay overnight in Chicago on Christmas Eve. This is a developing story. Stay with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 for updates. Download the WTAE mobile app to stay connected with breaking news.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Saturday that the Wild Card game between the Steelers and the Buffalo Bills, originally scheduled for Sunday, will be moved to Monday afternoon amid a forecast for dangerous winter weather.
Hochul posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that she had been in consultation with emergency personnel, the Bills and the NFL about the matter. The NFL and Bills issued a statement citing “public safety concerns” as the reason to push back the game by a day.
The Steelers were set to face the Bills at Highmark Stadium Sunday at 1 p.m. However, the weather forecast for Buffalo had already forced the Bills on Friday to request volunteers to shovel snow ahead of the game.
The forecast for the Buffalo area called for heavy snow and winds gusting as high as 65 mph (105 kph) Saturday, with 1 to 2 feet or more of snow eventually piling up. The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning lasting through 7 a.m. Monday, saying that “travel will be very difficult to impossible at times,” with the combination of snow and very strong wind causing near-zero visibility.
Much of the storm was expected to be concentrated in a narrow band of lake-effect snow hovering over Buffalo’s southern suburbs, which includes the Bills’ home in Orchard Park.
The Steelers will now face the Bills Monday at 4:30 p.m., Hochul said.
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Hochul also announced “a full travel ban” in Erie County, where Buffalo is the county seat, starting Saturday at 9 p.m.
“We want our Bills to win, but we don’t want 60,000 to 70,000 people traveling to the football game in what’s going to be horrible conditions,” Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said at a news conference in the Buffalo suburbs.
The Steelers have pushed back their travel plans and will now head to Buffalo on Sunday.
The Bills are familiar with weather-related schedule changes. In 2022, a lake effect storm led to Buffalo’s home game against Cleveland being moved to Detroit in November. A month later, a massive blizzard forced the Bills to delay their trip home, forcing them to stay overnight in Chicago on Christmas Eve.
This is a developing story. Stay with Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 for updates. Download the WTAE mobile app to stay connected with breaking news.
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