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“If you hear thunder, no matter what, you’re automatically off the field,” Centerville Athletic Director Rob Dement said. “As it gets dark, if you see lightning off in the distance, if it’s more than 10 miles away and moving away, we can continue to play.”
Athletic directors and trainers also have apps that can track how close lightning is to the field. If it’s within 10 miles, they’ll first get the players off the field and then get the fans out of the stands.
These rules are put in place because lightning can still strike from far away, and it’s attracted to taller objects.
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“I don’t think it’s a surprise to anybody that lightning is very dangerous, and lightning can strike from a storm five to 10 miles away from the center of that storm,” Storm Center 7 Meteorologist Dontae Jones said. “If you yourself are the tallest object around in the field then you could be an attraction to lightning. That is one of the reasons why you really just want to stay safe.”
While players, fans and administrators are hopeful lightning doesn’t affect any games, each one will make that determination depending on the weather.
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