NFL weather history
The Hottest NFL Games Ever, and What Extreme Heat Really Does
By OverUnderWeather Research Desk
Everyone knows the Ice Bowl. Far fewer can name the hottest game ever played — and almost nobody agrees on what heat actually does to football. We pulled the hottest kickoffs on record and every 90°F game in twenty seasons of our own data to answer both.
The short answer
109°F — Eagles at Cowboys, September 3, 2000. The Pickle Juice Game.
100.5°F at Levi's Stadium, Cardinals at 49ers, October 6, 2024.
90°F+ games scored 45.3 points vs 44.2 in mild weather. Heat doesn't lower scoring.
There isn't one. Only lightning stops an NFL game, never heat.
The hottest NFL games in history
The hottest officially recorded kickoff in league history is the 109°F season opener at Texas Stadium on September 3, 2000, when the Eagles beat the Cowboys 41–14 behind 201 rushing yards from Duce Staley. Eagles players drank pickle juice to fight off cramps, and the nickname stuck. The league's own game summary lists 109°F with 19% humidity at kickoff.
Every other game on the verified list came from the same short era: the Cardinals' outdoor years at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, from 2000 to 2003. Their move indoors to a retractable-roof stadium in 2006 effectively ended triple-digit football in Arizona.
| Game | Temp | Final |
|---|---|---|
Eagles at Cowboys (the Pickle Juice Game) Sep 3, 2000 · Texas Stadium, Irving | 109°F | Eagles 41, Cowboys 14 |
Falcons at Cardinals Sep 30, 2001 · Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe | 104°F | — |
Broncos at Cardinals Sep 23, 2001 · Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe | 103°F | — |
Packers at Cardinals Sep 21, 2003 · Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe | 101°F | — |
Cowboys at Cardinals Sep 10, 2000 · Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe | 100°F | — |
Chargers at Cardinals Sep 12, 2002 · Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe | 100°F | — |
Seahawks at Cardinals Sep 14, 2003 · Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe | 98°F | — |
The hottest NFL games since 2006
From our own database of every outdoor regular-season game since 2006, using the hourly temperature at kickoff from the ERA5 weather record. These can differ by a degree or two from the reading taken inside the stadium — which is why our 100.5°F at Levi's Stadium and the official 109°F in Irving don't sit on one continuous scale.
Only 14 games have kicked off at 90°F or hotter in nearly twenty years — fewer than one per season.
| # | Game | Temp | Wind | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers Oct 6, 2024 · Levi's Stadium | 100.5°F | 7 mph | 24–23 |
| 2 | Philadelphia Eagles at Kansas City Chiefs Sep 14, 2025 · Arrowhead Stadium | 93.0°F | 11 mph | 20–17 |
| 3 | Kansas City Chiefs at San Francisco 49ers Oct 5, 2014 · Levi's Stadium | 92.6°F | 2 mph | 17–22 |
| 4 | New England Patriots at Jacksonville Jaguars Sep 16, 2018 · EverBank Stadium | 92.4°F | 11 mph | 20–31 |
| 5 | Denver Broncos at Jacksonville Jaguars Sep 12, 2010 · EverBank Stadium | 92.0°F | 5 mph | 17–24 |
| 6 | Chicago Bears at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sep 17, 2023 · Raymond James Stadium | 91.7°F | 7 mph | 17–27 |
| 7 | New England Patriots at Miami Dolphins Sep 11, 2022 · Hard Rock Stadium | 91.4°F | 7 mph | 7–20 |
| 8 | Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos Sep 16, 2018 · Empower Field at Mile High | 91.1°F | 6 mph | 19–20 |
| 9 | Baltimore Ravens at Oakland Raiders Sep 20, 2015 · Oakland Coliseum | 91.1°F | 4 mph | 33–37 |
| 10 | Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans Sep 25, 2016 · Nissan Stadium | 90.8°F | 2 mph | 17–10 |
| 11 | Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans Sep 15, 2019 · Nissan Stadium | 90.7°F | 1 mph | 19–17 |
| 12 | Kansas City Chiefs at Jacksonville Jaguars Sep 8, 2019 · EverBank Stadium | 90.4°F | 4 mph | 40–26 |
| 13 | Cleveland Browns at Kansas City Chiefs Sep 12, 2021 · Arrowhead Stadium | 90.3°F | 9 mph | 29–33 |
| 14 | San Francisco 49ers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sep 8, 2019 · Raymond James Stadium | 90.0°F | 3 mph | 31–17 |
| 15 | Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars Sep 11, 2011 · EverBank Stadium | 89.9°F | 3 mph | 14–16 |
Kickoff temperature, ERA5 hourly record, outdoor regular-season games only. Jacksonville's EverBank Stadium appears three times, more than any other venue.
Does heat lower NFL scoring?
Almost everyone assumes it must — exhausted defenses, long drives, sloppy fourth quarters. The data says otherwise. We sorted all 3,474 outdoor games since 2006 with a kickoff temperature and a final score into bands and compared each against mild 50–75°F weather.
| Kickoff temp | Games | Avg points | vs mild | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 90°F and above | 14 | 45.3 | +1.1 | No significant difference |
| 80–89°F | 308 | 43.5 | -0.6 | No significant difference |
| 50–75°F (baseline) | 1,736 | 44.2 | – | Baseline |
The 90°F-plus games actually scored a point more than mild games, and even that sliver of a difference is statistically flat (t = 0.31, p = 0.76). The 80–89°F band, with 308 games, came in slightly under baseline and also flat (t = −0.75, p = 0.45). With only 14 games in the hottest band, this is a directional read rather than a precise estimate — but there is no sign of the scoring collapse folklore promises. Heat, unlike steady rain (−4.7 points) or severe cold, doesn't move the scoreboard.
If you're looking for a betting angle, we'll say plainly what the data allows: there are far too few 90°F-plus games with tracked closing totals to test how the market prices them. We don't make picks.
Why so few 90-degree games?
Two reasons stand out. First, timing: 12 of the 14 came in September, before the calendar and the sun angle cool the deep South and the West. Second, roofs: the teams that used to play in the worst heat — Arizona and Dallas — now play indoors, which is why the all-time list stops in 2003. (The Ravens and Raiders opened 2021 in 101-degree Las Vegas heat, but Allegiant Stadium's roof was closed, so it doesn't count as an outdoor game.)
The exceptions prove the pattern. Both October games on our list — 2024 and 2014 — were at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, where early-autumn heatwaves can arrive after most of the league has cooled off.
Check this week's games
See kickoff temperature and wind for every open-air stadium on the NFL weather page, or browse individual NFL stadium weather pages. For the other end of the thermometer, read our coldest NFL games guide and the NFL weather delay rules.
Sources
- Official NFL game summary, Eagles at Cowboys, September 3, 2000 (109°F, 19% humidity at kickoff)
- Wikipedia — the Pickle Juice Game
- Pro Football Network — hottest recorded kickoff temperatures in NFL history
- Copernicus ERA5 (hourly kickoff temperature and wind, 2006 onward)
Where this is applied
These findings feed the game-time read on every NFL venue page, using the same sample-size and significance rules published here.
OverUnderWeather Research Desk
Independent data analysis on public sports and weather records. Studies match historical game outcomes to archived game-window weather, apply pre-set sample and significance rules, and publish null results when that is what the data show. Editorial policy and corrections log.
Cite this research
Free to republish with a visible credit and a link to this page. Ready-made citations below — click to copy.
Frequently asked
What was the hottest NFL game ever?
By the official kickoff reading, the season opener on September 3, 2000, when the Philadelphia Eagles beat the Dallas Cowboys 41–14 at Texas Stadium in 109°F heat. Eagles players famously drank pickle juice to fight cramps, which is why it's remembered as the Pickle Juice Game.
Has an NFL game ever been played in 100-degree heat?
Yes. Every verified 100°F-plus outdoor kickoff came between 2000 and 2003, five of them at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2006, exactly one regular-season game has kicked off at 100°F or hotter in our database: Cardinals at 49ers on October 6, 2024, measured at 100.5°F.
Does hot weather increase or lower NFL scoring?
Neither, as far as the data shows. The 14 outdoor games at 90°F or above since 2006 averaged 45.3 points against 44.2 in mild 50–75°F weather — a difference of about a point that is well within normal noise (t = 0.31, p = 0.76). Games between 80°F and 89°F also scored essentially the same as mild games.
Can an NFL game be delayed or cancelled for heat?
No. The NFL has no heat rule — games proceed in any temperature, and players manage heat with hydration, shade and cooling breaks on the sideline. Only lightning within about six miles triggers the league's 30-minute delay protocol.