Hurricane Hilary could be a problem for New Orleans Saints vs Los Angeles Chargers. What do we know?
Weather is an increasing problem around the globe, and as seen earlier this year on the east coast, with wildfire-related haze, it’s affected the NFL.
As the western coast of the U.S.A. faces an unprecedented situation with Hurricane Hilary baring down upon it, the league has been forced to weigh the pros and cons of holding Sunday’s scheduled preseason game between the Saints and Chargers.
Hurricane Hilary could be a problem for the Saints vs Chargers
As it should be, the NFL is reportedly monitoring Hurricane Hilary as the storm continues to approach the Pacific Coast with a projected landfall of as early as Sunday night. Indeed, it’s now understood that Sunday’s preseason game between the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California could be under threat should the situation continue as is. To be clear, there has been no official word that the NFL intends to cancel or reschedule the game which is set to kick off at 7:05 p.m. ET, but things are touch and go at the moment. “We continue to monitor the weather and will (update the situation) if anything changes,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said on Friday.
Dennis Allen said the NFL & SoFi Stadium officials will have a call later today to discuss any potential contingency for this weekend’s game regarding Hurricane Hilary.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) August 18, 2023
What’s the deal with Hurricane Hilary
As of Friday morning, Hilary was located 360 miles southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 145 mph, meaning it is currently a Category 4 storm according to CBS News. Thankfully - to an extent - Hilary is expected to downgrade to a tropical storm by the time it makes its projected arrival in Southern California on Sunday night. Speaking on Friday, hurricane and storm specialist for the Weather Channel, Greg Postel, stated that there will likely be “damaging wind gusts” especially at higher elevations and swells along the coast. “It is rare - indeed nearly unprecedented in the modern record - to have a tropical system like this move through Southern California,” said Postel.
Breathtaking view of Major Hurricane #Hilary as it approaches the Baja California Peninsula today pic.twitter.com/dQJbRHPN20
— Zoom Earth (@zoom_earth) August 18, 2023
As for the Chargers and Saints, they’ve been practicing jointly this week in Cosa Mesa as they prepare for their preseason clash. The Saints arrived on the coast on Wednesday and in theory, are booked to fly home following the game on Sunday night. That, however, remains to be seen.