Snow way to be sure of weather for Eagles-Vikings

This is a heads-up for Eagles fans, not a fearless forecast.

There is a decreasing outside chance that a coastal storm could make Sunday night's game against the hapless Vikings the first real snow game the Birds have played since the 1948 NFL title game in then-Shibe Park. Players from the Eagles and Chicago Cardinals had to help shovel the field that day.

Two days ago, the storm was a lock, according to consecutive runs of the European global model (ECMWF). Yesterday's 12Z (Greenwich time) computer run moved the storm to the east somewhat, but still printed out a windswept blizzard at the Shore and a plowable snow for the I-95 corridor.

But the 0Z run 12 hours later had the storm weaker and missing the region completely. A similar scenario was presented by the same model last weekend. But possible heavy snow forecast for the Meadowlands during the Eagles-Giants classic never happened, and the game was played in dry conditions and less wind than expected. The same storm was forecast to blast Foxborough during the Patriots game with the Packers. Uh, no . . .

But the models have 2 more days to waffle, wax and wane. So stay tuned.

Meanwhile, AccuWeather's crack winter weather team has backed way off on a disruptive Middle Atlantic storm Sunday into Monday and has shifted the bull's-eye to New England.

Eagles fans can be assured of one thing: It will be in the 20s and windy for the 8:20 p.m. kickoff. Toss a shovel into the truck to be on the safe side. And fans driving up from the shore are the most likely to experience accumulating snow, either coming to Lincoln Financial Field or driving home.