Major Sports Events Interrupted By Dangerous Weather

The World Cup has been interrupted by weather several times, most often due to heat. Mexico’s game against England was delayed due to lightning, and three other games have been delayed due to storms.

Experts have analyzed the impact of hot environments on sports, particularly the World Cup. NPR analyzed which games were most likely to be delayed due to heat, based on past temperature records. The data showed that American cities—including Houston, Dallas, and, to a lesser extent, New York and Philadelphia—were most at risk. Indeed, a heat dome brought 100-degree-Fahrenheit temperatures to the Northeast last week. Donal Mullan, a climate scientist at Queen’s University Belfast, told NPR that players “can overheat, and match officials as well.”

Several other outdoor professional sports have faced weather delays, some severe enough that games, tournaments, or matches had to be moved to alternative locations or postponed by a day. Below are a few of the most severe cases by sport.

NFL

• Hurricane Irma (2017) was a Category 5 hurricane that formed on August 30 and dissipated on September 15. The game between the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers was scheduled to be played at Hard Rock Stadium (65,000 seats) in Miami on September 10. The storm forced the game to be postponed until November 19.
• Hurricane Ida (2021) was a Category 4 hurricane that formed on August 26 and dissipated on September 5. It killed 112 people and, at $95 billion in damage, was one of the most costly hurricanes in US history. The storm triggered the cancellation of a St. Louis Cardinals–New Orleans Saints preseason game and forced the Saints’ season opener against the Green Bay Packers to relocate to Jacksonville.
• Buffalo snowstorm (2022): A huge snowstorm that hit Buffalo in early November—part of the lake-effect storms that often plague the area in winter—caused the Cleveland Browns’ game against the Bills to be relocated to Detroit’s Ford Field (home of the Detroit Lions). The game was played on November 20.
• Blizzard (2024): A blizzard in Buffalo, with winds of 60 mph, forced the NFL to reschedule the Buffalo Bills–Pittsburgh Steelers Wild Card game from Sunday, January 15, to Monday—the first weather-based playoff postponement since 2016.

MLB

Routine rain postponements occur in about 2% of all games each year, but the most significant weather event in MLB history was far more severe:

• Hurricane Milton (2024): Milton, which formed on October 5 and dissipated on October 12, was a Category 5 hurricane that struck Florida’s west coast south of Tampa. It tore the roof off Tropicana Field on October 10, forcing the Tampa Bay Rays to play their 2025 home games at a minor-league park in St. Petersburg.

Golf

• The Masters (2024) was one of the most weather-disrupted editions of any of the four golf majors in modern history. Storms delayed the first round, which had to be finished the next day, and also suspended the third round, forcing 29 holes to be completed on Sunday alongside the final round. As NBC reported, the disruption occurred when “severe line storms rumbled across the southern United States” during the early rounds.

Soccer

• 2026 FIFA World Cup (ongoing): Extreme weather has already included a France–Iraq match in Philadelphia with a 131-minute lightning delay—the longest in World Cup history. Matches in Miami and Monterrey were played at so-called “wet-bulb temperatures,” which experts flagged as unsafe starting above 82°F. In response to the heat risk, FIFA has mandated hydration breaks mid-half. It’s too early to say whether further interruptions will occur in the games that remain.