An outdoor pro hockey game in Florida this weekend will get a surprising helping of Mother Nature, even if some fans are left shivering.
The latest game in the National Hockey League Stadium Series will take place on Sunday night as the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Boston Bruins at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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predict
If this game had been played last Sunday, the high temperature in Tampa would have been 80 degrees. On Sunday, eight Florida cities set record daily high temperatures of 88 degrees.
Instead, cold bursts will affect not only parts of the East and South, but also Florida.
But if you’re reading this in New England or the upper Midwest, you might be asking, “How cold can it get for outdoor games in Florida?”
Sunday will be uncomfortable by local standards.
Daytime highs in Tampa won’t exceed 40 degrees. colder than average low The temperature was 54 degrees, which may be close to the record coldest February 1 of 46 degrees set in 1900.
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Additionally, the game will be played on Sunday nightbecause in the planning stages, league officials had to consider that the ice in Central Florida might be too warm to hold a day of games outdoors.
You can lower the daytime highs a few degrees for the game itself, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Then there’s the wind. During the game, northwest winds can push wind chills into the low 30s (yes, we’re just referencing Florida wind chills).
So that could lead to the odd sight of fans attending outdoor sporting events in Florida wearing winter jackets, gloves and socks.
(forecast: tampa)
NHL outdoor history
Sunday’s game will certainly have a different feel than recent Winter Classics.
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On January 2, the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers faced the New York Rangers at the rink built inside Miami’s Loan Depot Park (home of the Major League Baseball’s Miami Marlins).
The stadium’s retractable roof had been closed and the air conditioning was on before the game, but it was turned on before the game and the temperature reached 63 degrees.
Sunday night’s game will be the league’s 45th game played outdoors since November 2003.
(More: NHL Winter Classic Statistics)
Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images
sun belt domination
Perhaps Southern’s recent success is a factor in these two outdoor games in the Sunshine State in 2026.
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Five of the past six Stanley Cup champions have come from cities with warmer climates. Four of the Cup championships have come from two Florida teams, the Florida Panthers in 2024 and 2025, and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021.
The 2027 Winter Classic will be played at Rice-Eccles Stadium on the University of Utah campus and will be hosted by the Utah Mammoth and Colorado Avalanche. The 2027 Stadium Series will take place on February 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, between the host Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights.
Photograph: Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist for Weather.com and has been covering domestic and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. contact him blue sky, X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.