Everyone is a Buffalo Sabres fan it seems, with the exception of Mother Nature.
After a week of warmer and almost summer-like temperatures that will stretch into Saturday, a cold front will cross the region later Saturday, bringing with it a 'big chill' for the first Sabres playoff game at Key Bank Center Sunday evening.
Temperatures Friday will cool off several degrees compared to the past few days, but still average about 5-10 degrees above average for mid-April. Friday's high will be around 60 and the high will warm to the mid 70's Saturday.
After that, we fall off the temperature cliff.
"We're certainly hoping everyone didn't decide to put away their winter coats," jokes National Weather Service meteorologist Phillip Pandolfo in a WBEN interview. "We're going to be seeing a very large pattern change. High temperatures on Saturday will reach all the way into the 70's, but those are going to be about 30 degrees colder for high temperatures on Sunday."
How cold will it be as fans file into Canalside and the arena area in advance of the Sabres-Bruins round one matchup?
"We are going to struggle to get out of the 40's, really everywhere across the area," Pandolfo says. "Going into Sunday evening...we're going to be tumbling into the upper and mid 30's, and by Sunday night, we'll be in the 20's actually across the entire area."
It remains quite cold through Tuesday, before somewhat of a rebound.
"We will recover back to near climatological averages around the midweek timeframe next week, by Tuesday we're already getting into the 50's across WNY."
Just in time for game 2!
First Half of the Weekend?
After a few early showers Friday, the weather will remain quiet for most of the day and into early Saturday as well.
"We're going to be tracking a very strong cold front that's going to move through the area later Saturday and we're going to be expecting another round of widespread showers and thunderstorms, a few of which could actually be strong to severe, especially across the western southern tier," Pandolfo cautions.
NOAA Buffalo
2nd Tornado!
NWS experts Thursday confirmed another tornado in the Cattaraugus County community of Machias, the second in just a matter of weeks.
"It is pretty remarkable, actually, the two tornadoes were actually just a block and a half from each other," Pandolfo notes of the Wednesday twister.
NOAA Buffalo
