Will record warmth favor the Rams in Super Bowl 56?

Los Angeles is experiencing unusually high temperatures just days before the Super Bowl. With temperatures expected to remain high right through the game, could the Rams benefit from it?

The Los Angeles Rams will play Super Bowl 56 at SoFi Stadium, the team's home venue, after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game two weeks prior. But a heat wave will create unique circumstances for both teams playing on Sunday.

In the days leading up to the big game, the Los Angeles area was experiencing unusual heat for this time of year. The National Weather Service (NWS) issued the first February heat-related product in at least 15 years on Monday. An excessive heat watch was issued for the area on Monday, originally intended to last from Wednesday until Friday. But on Tuesday, the watch was adjusted to be a heat advisory and was extended into Sunday.

Bengals fans traveling from Cincinnati noticed the dramatic change in weather instantly upon arriving in L.A.

Fans from Cincinnati have begun to make the journey to Los Angeles to watch the Bengals play in the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years. The last time the Cincinnati Bengals played in the Super Bowl was in January 1989 in Miami. The daytime high temperature that day was 81 degrees Fahrenheit.

Three decades and several quarterbacks later, the Cincinnati Bengals are back in the Super Bowl -- and temperatures could be even higher than Miami in 1989.

"When I left [Cincinnati], it was 22 degrees. Flights were canceled, so our flight was packed. I [now] got on a tank top!" Cincinnati Bengals fan Tameka Johnson told ABC's Los Angeles affiliate KABC this week. Johnson is in town to cheer on her team.

Cincinnati Bengals fan Tameka Johnson. (KABC)

The weather in Cincinnati is usually a stark contrast from that of Los Angeles in February. Late last month, Cincinnati dipped to 3 degrees below zero. The city has not climbed past a high of 63 degrees or higher in more than a month.

Meanwhile, the city of Los Angeles hasn't experienced a high temperature below 63 degrees in more than a month. High temperatures for Los Angeles are expected to be in the 80s for five consecutive days, including Super Bowl Sunday.

Fans of the Los Angeles Rams think the warm weather has come at a perfect time to help the Rams win the franchise's first Super Bowl since moving to Los Angeles in 2016.

Los Angeles Rams fan Audrey Mondragon told KABC that the Rams have an edge due to the heat. "Because they've been practicing in this weather, the Bengals are going to be just sweating. It's going to be bad," said Mondragon.

Los Angeles Rams fan Audrey Mondragon. (KABC)

But some fans aren't so sure and think the heat could have effects on both sides of the football come game time.

"I think it's going to be tough on either team. It's supposed to be hot. But certainly, they're more accustomed to practicing in the warm weather," Rams fan Joe Ventura told KABC.

Despite confidence from some Rams fans, Johnson says she isn't worried about how the Bengals will play in the unusually warm February heat.

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"Who dey?" Johnson responded, referencing the team's chant when asked if she thought the heat would favor the Rams. "We got this! If we can play in the cold, we can play in the heat. 'Who dey, who dey, who dey think gonna beat them Bengals?' Not your Rams!"

The warmest Super Bowl on record occurred in 1973 and then again in 2003. High temperatures for both those games reached 82 degrees. The high temperature for the Super Bowl on Sunday in Los Angeles is forecast to reach 84 degrees.

History of Super Bowl locations and weather

With a few exceptions, the Super Bowl has usually been played in locations with mild temperatures in February. The colder Super Bowls have often taken place in domed stadiums.

The first Super Bowl took place in Los Angeles, California, on January 15, 1967, with a game between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. The high temperature was 79 degrees in Los Angeles on that now historic day. Tickets cost only $12 and the game was unable to sell out.

The next two Super Bowls were played in Miami. Super Bowl II had a game-day high temperature of 67 degrees and the high temp for Super Bowl III peaked at 74.

For the next 12 seasons, the Super Bowl was hosted at stadiums in warm-weather states, including Louisiana, Florida, California, and Texas. During this period, game day high temperatures dipped to the 40s only twice: Super Bowl 11 in 1972 and then Super Bowl 12 in 1978, both played in New Orleans.

Los Angeles hosted its second Super Bowl on January 14, 1973. When the undefeated 16-0 Miami Dolphins took on the Washington Redskins on that day, the high temperature reached 82 degrees in Los Angeles. This has stood as the record warmest Super Bowl outdoor high temperature for the last 49 years.

For the 1981 NFL season, the league put the game in a northern state for the very first time. Super Bowl 16 was played in Pontiac, Michigan, at the Pontiac Silverdome on Jan. 24, 1982. While the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals competed for a title inside the domed stadium, outdoor temperatures peaked at just 16 degrees. This stood as the coldest Super Bowl day outdoor temperature on record for three decades.

A road grader clears the parking lot outside of Pontiac, Michigan's Silverdome, Jan. 23, 1982, after an overnight storm dumped snow and freezing rain on the area. (AP Photo)

For the next nine seasons, the NFL went back to southern states to host the big game. During this period, Super Bowl day outdoor high temperatures would mostly be in the 60s and 70s, only dropping down to the 40s once more -- in Super Bowl 18 in January 1984 at Tampa Stadium.

It wasn't until Super Bowl 26 in 1992 that the league would return to the north. On Jan. 26, 1992, Super Bowl 26 took place at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While Washington won its 3rd Super Bowl that day, outside temperatures in Minneapolis reached only 26 degrees -- the coldest since Pontiac in 1982.

It would take 14 years for another Super Bowl to be hosted anywhere outside of the southern tier of the nation, but a cold snap in Atlanta in January 2000 made temperatures resemble a northern winter day.

Super Bowl 34 between the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans was played in Atlanta on Jan. 30, 2000. On average, high temperatures for the city that day are in the mid-50s. However, a cold snap caused high temperatures to dip 20 degrees below average for the big game. While the game was played indoors, celebrations from St. Louis fans in the Atlanta area that took place outside were quite cold. The city of Atlanta recorded a high temperature of only 34 degrees that day.

In 2003, warm weather caused Super Bowl 37 to tie a Super Bowl weather record. When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played the Oakland Raiders in San Diego for the Super Bowl title, the city had a daytime high of 82 degrees. This tied the warmest Super Bowl city high-temperature record, set in 1973.

Fans arrive outside the gates at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego to clear security Sunday, Jan. 26, 2003, before the start of Super Bowl XXXVII between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders. (AP Photo/J. David Ake)

Michigan became the first northern state to host its second Super Bowl when the NFL announced Super Bowl 40 would take place at Ford Field in Detroit, in February 2006. While the Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Seattle Seahawks inside Ford Field that Sunday, outside temperatures in Detroit barely rose above freezing, topping out at just 33 degrees.

A close call for bad weather occurred when Super Bowl 45 took place in Dallas in 2011. Despite being hosted in a southern state, Dallas was in the midst of a winter storm just two days before the Super Bowl took place. Rapid freezing temperatures caused a coating of ice around the Dallas area days before the game was set to kickoff. Several injuries were caused by falling snow from the roof of Cowboys Stadium, where the Super Bowl would be played that weekend.

Just three years later, another close call occurred for Super Bowl 48 in 2014. In 2010, the NFL announced Super Bowl 48 would be hosted at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Feb. 2, 2014. This decision would be the first time a northern state hosted a Super Bowl outdoors. The decision also marked the first realistic possibility for a snow Super Bowl.

But 46 days before the kickoff of that game, AccuWeather predicted there would be no snow for the big game. The forecast was correct as snow held off for the game. Though, less than 12 hours after Super Bowl 48 ended, a major snowstorm hit the New York City area and brought accumulating snow to MetLife Stadium by Monday morning.

Fans arrive for the NFL Super Bowl XLVIII football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos at MetLife Stadium Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The last time Super Bowl temperatures reached at least the mid-70s was when the Atlanta Falcons played the New England Patriots on Feb. 5, 2017, in Houston for Super Bowl 51. Outside temperatures in Houston reached a high of 78 degrees that day.

The coldest Super Bowl city high temperature occurred on the day of Super Bowl 52 in 2018. The NFL returned to Minneapolis in then newly-built U.S. Bank Stadium to host Super Bowl 52. Freezing cold temperatures put a damper on outdoor celebrations in the city after the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots. While the game was played indoors, the daytime high temperature outside reached just 9 degrees, almost halving the old Super Bowl record of 16 set in 1982.

In 2021, high temperatures for the Super Bowl reached at least the 70s for the first time in four years. That year, Super Bowl 55 was hosted in Tampa, Florida. High temperatures reached 72 degrees that day.

After the St. Louis Rams and San Diego Chargers moved to Los Angeles in the 2010s, the NFL announced a new stadium would host Super Bowl 56 in February 2022. Record high temperatures have impacted Southern California leading up to the game, and now Super Bowl LVI is forecast to have the warmest Super Bowl day high temperature of all time.

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