Bills-49ers preview: Heavy snow will fall near Buffalo for Sunday Night Football

ORCHARD PARK, NY – After a brutal loss on Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers will face another tough competition in Sunday Night Football's game against the Buffalo Bills, with snow, extreme cold and gusty winds from a powerful winter storm expected to sweep across Western New York .

Highmark Stadium, located in Orchard Park, is under a Lake-Effect Snow Warning for Sunday night's game.

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Snow covers the stadium and seats at the Buffalo Bills Stadium on December 10, 2017 in Orchard Park, New York.

(Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

The FOX Forecast Center is calling for heavy snow with lake effects, with several feet of snow possible in areas near and south of Highmark Stadium.

Snow totals can vary greatly depending on where the lake effect snow bands are located.

“Several feet of snow will be possible this weekend in the most persistent snow on the lakes,” the National Weather Service office in Buffalo said. “Snowfall will average 1 to 2 inches per hour, but higher rates are possible.”

Forecasters warned that travel will be very difficult and at times “almost impossible” due to poor visibility and deep snow cover on the roads.

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Implications for fantasy football

The Bills are coming off a bye week after beating the previously undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. Rest and the fact that they are no strangers to playing in extreme weather could set the Bills apart for a potential seven-game win streak.

Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid could be back for the 49ers game on Sunday. He will be a great option to use as your main tight end or even as a flex option, as he could very well lead the Bills in targets this season.

Also hopeful to be back will be rookie wide receiver Keon Coleman due to a wrist injury.

FILE Frank Gore #23 of the Indianapolis Colts is stopped by EJ Gaines #28 and Matt Milano #58 of the Buffalo Bills during the first quarter at New Era Field on December 10, 2017 in Orchard Park, New York.

(Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)

San Francisco's starting quarterback Brock Purdy's status is still up in the air on Sunday after injuring his shoulder in Week 11 against Seattle.

Meanwhile, a now healthy Christian McCaffrey should be an automatic starter at your RB1 position. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year was held to just 31 yards in their game against Green Bay, but due to the possibility of poor visibility due to snow and wind, fantasy owners can expect him to have more than 11 carries in this game to get. .

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With winds gusting up to 30 miles per hour and arctic air moving in, temperatures will be somewhere between the single digits and the lower teens. Gusty winds make kicking tough, and cold temperatures have been shown to affect the performance of how a quarterback can throw the ball.

Should heavy snow bands set up over Orchard Park, Highmark Stadium could once again experience a snow globe game similar to those we've seen in years past.

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Highmark Stadium is no stranger to lake effect snow

While Bills fans remember last season when their Super Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers had to be postponed, it was November and December of 2022 that Buffalo will never forget.

The snow from the historic lake effect snowstorm that hit Orchard Park in November 2022 was so deep that you could build a snowman over 80 feet tall with all the snow on the Buffalo Bills football field.

The Cleveland Browns were scheduled to play the Bills at Highmark Stadium on that snowy day, but NFL officials decided to move the game to the indoor Ford Field in Detroit instead.

Just a month later, a historic snowstorm dropped several feet of snow on nearby locations, stranding motorists and forcing a state of emergency throughout Erie County.

The FOX Forecast Center says this Thanksgiving weekend storm is not expected to produce as much snow as these historic days, but snow could cause road closures and significant travel delays across the state.

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