Indiana-Notre Dame Weather: Cold, But No Snow Forecast During College Football Playoff Game

(updated Thursday, Dec, 19 at 12:00 p.m. ET)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Among many other things, one of the new things the College Football Playoff brings to the postseason is December weather at campus sites.

For over 100 years, the rhythms of the sport have turned to warmer climes during the bowl postseason. Part of the reward of making the postseason was a trip to sunny or warm Pasadena, New Orleans, Miami or Dallas for the traditional big four bowls: the Rose, Sugar, Orange and Cotton Bowls. The Arizona-based Fiesta Bowl has been in on the act as a "big" bowl since the 1990s.

Now? With campus sites used in the first round, cold weather playoff games are a reality. This is more like the NFL where December and January weather often has a profound effect on the games.

Indiana will get a taste of this at 8 p.m. ET on Friday when it travels north to play Notre Dame in a College Football Playoff first round contest.

Indiana is not completely insulated from playing cold weather games - the Hoosiers are a Big Ten team after all - but they're not that common. Indiana only played one game below freezing at kickoff this year - the Nov. 30 home game against Purdue when it was 28 degrees and snowing.

Notre Dame has not played in a game below freezing at all in 2024. Their last two games of the season were against Army in New York City and at Southern California.

That is very likely to change for the Fighting Irish on Friday. Temperatures and conditions will be very similar to what Indiana had in its final home game against Purdue.

South Bend is prone to snow flurries being that it's on the edge of the Lake Michigan snow belt. Prevailing west winds send the moisture off the lake in snow form about 50 miles inland.

It is possible that lake effect snow will play a role in Friday's game, but it's not currently in the forecast. If it does snow, it is not expected to be heavy.

Here's a look at the forecast for both the drive to South Bend and on Friday game day.

Thursday driving weather (from the south) - According to weather.com, the high temperature in South Bend will be 34 degrees on Thursday. A few flurries are in the forecast. More snow is in the forecast for Thursday evening starting at around 9 p.m. Snow is expected to fall throughout the evening and into the next morning with accumulation between 1-3 inches. Winds are expected to be 5 to 10 miles per hour from the southeast.

Gary is expected to get snow to 2 p.m. on Thursday. Precipitation is expected to begin again at 8 p.m. and last to 8 a.m. Predicted accumulation is 1-3 inches.

During the evening, snow is forecast for Kokomo (starting at midnight), Fort Wayne (starting at midnight). Precipitation is not expected to begin in Indianapolis until the early morning hours on Friday.

Friday morning and afternoon - The forecast high in South Bend is 33 degrees. Snow is predicted to last to 10 a.m. with 1-3 inches of accumulation predicted. Wind is expected to shift to a northerly direction by the afternoon.

In Gary, snow is expected to last until 8 a.m. with 1-3 inches predicted. In Kokomo, snow is expected to start at midnight and continue to 11 a.m. Less than an inch of accumulation predicted. In Fort Wayne, snow is expected from midnight to 10 a.m. with less than an inch predicted. Snow is expected in Indianapolis from 4 a.m.-10 a.m. Less than an inch is predicted.

Friday game night - No snow is in the forecast, but it is expected to be cloudy and it will be cold. Temperature at kickoff is expected to be 28 degrees with an overnight low of 23 degrees. Winds are expected to be from the north at 11 miles per hour, but is expected to dimish as the game goes on. That would translate to a wind chill factor between 15 and 19 degrees.