DES MOINES, Iowa — A blast of colder air is pushing in Friday night and into the weekend. Some big games are planned for the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones, Friday night and Saturday night respectively.
Fans going out to the games will want to dress very warmly. Temperatures will dive back into the 20s each evening. With a little bit of a breeze, the wind chills will be in the low 10s. Snow is not expected for either game.
This got us wondering, how will this week stack up with the coldest games on record in Ames and Iowa City? Here’s what we dug up:
Iowa Hawkeyes
For Iowa at Kinnick Stadium, kickoff for the game versus Nebraska on Friday is set for 6:30 p.m. Temperatures will be falling through the 20s and it is expected to be about 20° at kickoff. Should this forecast hold, it will go down as the third coldest kickoff temperature in Iowa City on record.
Records for Iowa at home are difficult. Box scores from the 1960s and prior did not keep specific temperature data. During this same era, most games were played in the late morning and early afternoon due to lack of lighting. With games earlier than 1969, we assumed the high temperature in Iowa City the day of the game as a substitute for kickoff temperature to help complete the list.
With all games considered, the coldest game on record was versus Nebraska on Nov. 28th, 1896. The high temperature in Iowa City that day was 15°. Most recently, the Michigan game at Kinnick Stadium in 2013 had a kickoff temperature of 18°, the coldest of modern times.
Iowa State Cyclones
Iowa State welcomes Kansas State to Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday. The kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m., and similarly cold temperatures are expected. A forecasted temperature of 21° is set for kickoff and would be the fifth coldest on record for a home game. The coldest game in Ames was in 2013 versus Kansas when the kickoff temperature was 8° and the field was caked in ice. Texas Tech in 2022 is another recent cold game with a kickoff temp at 22°.
Stay warm and safe out there!
