Weather might warm significantly in Kansas City by Sunday

The latest weather forecasts show temperatures improving in Kansas City by as much as 30 degrees before kickoff of the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.

There’s good news and there’s bad news for fans planning on attending Sunday’s AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New England Patriots.

The good news?

It might not be as brutally, record-breaking-ly cold as originally expected when the two best teams in the conference take the field.

The bad news?

It’s still going to be absolutely frigid. So pack your thickest winter coat, wear two pairs of mittens, and maybe check the Arrowhead Stadium rules and policies on bringing personal space heaters into the game.

Originally, forecasts predicted the temperature at kickoff could be in the negative, which would have potentially set a mark for one of the coldest games in NFL playoff history. As of Friday, that estimate had changed, with new reports suggesting the thermometer could actually break the 30 degree Fahrenheit threshold.

That’s still what most average people would call absurdly cold, but it’s maybe not quite as miserable or unbearable as originally thought.

Obviously it’s the weather, so there’s still a significant chance the situation could change again before Sunday. But at the very least, fans of both teams hoping to make their voices heard might breathe a slight sigh of relief, knowing they won’t get frostbite in their lungs the moment they open their mouths to cheer.

Much has been made of what the weather will mean in determining the outcome of this game.

Some pundits claim it’s all part of the Chiefs’ home-field advantage, and point to the team’s demolition of the Colts last weekend in light snow and similar temperatures as proof. Others swear the conditions favor the Patriots, who are used to playing cold playoff games in January, and who rely more on a power running game to put points on the board.

For their part, both title game participants have shrugged off any notion that the weather will play a major role in their game-planning for Sunday.

“It will be a little chilly and that’s OK. We’re at that time of the year. You go play,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told the media on Monday. “I don’t think it will be an issue… we continue to practice outside where it’s cold. It’s all part of it. You just have to adapt.”

His counterpart on the Patriots, head coach Bill Belichick, similarly sounded nonchalant when discussing hypothetical forecasts.

“Love to play in the championship game. Schedule it wherever you want. We’ll be there,” Belichick remarked to reporters on Wednesday. “We’re getting ready for the Chiefs. Whatever it is, it is.”

Assuming both coaches aren’t just full of hot air (get it?), it sounds like both New England and Kansas City will be ready to rock and roll come Sunday night, regardless of what the weather’s like outside.