Growing up in California I always had a fascination with weather. Its elusiveness made its tangible effects somewhat mysterious; interesting weather only happened in far off places and I only heard about it on the news or in books.  While the lack of interesting weather on the west coast fed my fascination I thoroughly enjoyed the constant stream of pleasant weather, especially during the extreme seasons.  One particular memory of just how pleasant California’s winter weather can be was the day of the 2003 Super Bowl that pitted the Oakland Raiders up against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  The game itself is inconsequential to this anecdote; rather the story is focused on the day trip we took from San Luis Obispo to Ventura to watch the game with some friends. While driving south along the coast on Highway 1 that January day we enjoyed the 80 degree weather with windows down, even once remarking how it was incredible to have 80 degree January days.

Fast forward five years to 2008. We had since moved to Topeka, Kansas and were about to enter into our first winter away from the west coast.  I was about to enjoy my first Chief’s game in Arrowhead Stadium that December.  I purchased tickets to the last home game of the year because I wanted to experience a cold outdoor football game, just like I had seen on television hundreds of times.  It looked like I was going to get my wish, as the forecast for the day of the game was for a cold front to move through the area, bringing dropping temperatures throughout the day.  Ironically the Chiefs were welcoming into town the San Diego Chargers.  Coincidently, one of my good friends was in town for a few days.  Felix is from Puerto Rico, and understandably was not accustomed to the weather that was about to strike us at the football game.

December 14, 2008 started out abnormally warm for that time of year.  The average high for mid-December is in the lower 40s, but at sunrise the temperature was in the lower 60s, with a stiff southerly breeze.  It seemed silly to grab the parka and a beanie for a day that was starting out so warm, but one of the perks of being a meteorologist is an understanding of what the atmosphere is about to do, especially when it performs incredible swings.

Felix and I spent the morning grilling brats and burgers on the grill and drinking cold beer in the 60+ degree temperatures.  Around 10:00 am, as we were loading up we noticed an eerie low cloud rolling over the stadium.  We knew this signaled the arrival of the anticipated cold front and the end of our comfortable temperatures.  We both put on our parkas and beanies and headed into the stadium, meanwhile noting the people that were walking up to the stadium in short sleeved shirts or the occasional hoodie…amateurs.   

According to observations from Kansas City Downtown Airport the temperature at 9:54 am was 62.1°; 45 minutes later, at 10:34 am the temperature had dropped to 42.8 degrees, a nearly 20-degree drop in less than one hour.  By the noon kickoff the temperature was down to 33°, and with a stiff 20 mph northwest breeze the wind chill dropped to 23.9°.  That parka was now coming in handy.  Surviving the first half of the game was not too difficult, considering the dropping temperatures, but by the time the second half started the wind chill was down to 9.2°. This was now the coldest environment I had ever experienced. Welcome to the Plains, Jared. 

I will not go into a play-by-play description of the football game, but it was a close game, one that featured a late lead-changing score and a game-ending field goal. In other words, despite the frigid temperatures I could not leave the stadium.  By the time the game ended – around 4:00 pm – the wind chill was approaching 5°.  While I was desperate to get to the warm car I found that my legs would not move.  My feet were figuratively frozen, but literally in pain.  I could not take my hands out of my pockets for more than 45 seconds since the frigid air would make them feel like they were being stabbed by 100 needles simultaneously.  Despite that, I was able to snap a few photographs of Felix and myself as we froze in the upper reaches of Arrowhead Stadium.

While it has now been six years since that frozen day in 2008 I have experienced much colder air. I’ve performed upper air balloon launches and shoveled snow in subzero temperatures, with wind chills approaching 20 degrees below zero, and have seemingly accustomed myself to the cold temperatures that adorn the Plains every winter.  Despite the frequency with which these cold temperatures have occurred since December 14, 2008 I will never forget my first taste of what the Plains can achieve.