Sunday, Feb 05, 2012 01:58 PM

New York/New Jersey gets sunshine, warm winter temperatures

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The cold-weather Super Bowl in northern New Jersey in 2014 might not be all that cold based on recent trends.

OK, knock on wood.

For the second straight year, the weather at MetLife Stadium on Sunday was perfect for a Super Bowl: Sunny, with temperatures around 40 degrees and almost no wind.

The weather was even better last year. It was sunny, with a high of 46 and winds out of the northwest at 10 to 15 mph, and that happened during one of the worst winters in the region's history.

League owners voted in May 2010 to play the title game in the $1.6 billion stadium co-owned by the Jets and Giants, risking the possibility of what might be first cold weather championship for the world's biggest football game.

There have been several remarkable cold-weather title games. The Giants beat the Packers 23-20 in overtime in the NFC title game on Jan. 21, 2008, in Green Bay, Wis., with the temperatures at minus-3 degrees -- and a wind chill of minus-24.

Cincinnati beat San Diego 27-7 in the 1981 AFC title game known as the Freezer Bowl. The temperature in Ohio was minus-9, with 35 mph winds making it feel like minus-59.

But the one many people remember is the 1967 NFL title game, known as the Ice Bowl in Green Bay. The Packers beat Dallas 21-17 in a game played with the temperature at minus-13 and a wind chill of minus-48.

The coldest kickoff temperature in Super Bowl history was 39 degrees at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans for Super Bowl VI, when Dallas beat Miami 24-3. It's been at least 57 degrees for every outdoor Super Bowl since 1975, when it was 46.