On this page · 8 sections
What does the KHSAA require?
The policy covers every sport and sport-activity, and all organized activity, practice or play. WBGT is determined at the practice or contest site with a WBGT device. Only on-site readings count: no website, phone app or other computer program can substitute and keep a school compliant, and media temperature readings are not permitted.
For football, field hockey and distance running over 800 meters, including cross country, the device sits on a tripod 3–4 feet above the surface. Other sports may use a permanently installed WBGT tool on the same campus. Measurements are taken whenever the temperature is at or above 82.2 degrees, in the sun, starting 30 minutes before activity, and are recorded on KHSAA Form GE20. Once activity has to be decreased, above 86.9 WBGT, re-readings follow every 30 minutes.
Reading cadence
First reading 30 minutes before activity, device exposed for more than 15 minutes. Every 30 minutes for the session; re-readings every 30 minutes above 86.9.
On-site only
A WBGT device at the practice or contest site. No website, phone app or media reading keeps a school compliant.
Rest breaks
In shade, with unrestricted access to fluids, helmets off, and never combined with other activity. Above 85.0: ice towels, spray bottles or equivalent.
Rapid cooling
A cold-water immersion tub or TACO set up at all warm-weather practices and competitions. Cool first, transport second.
The KHSAA WBGT threshold table
Five bands, read in degrees Fahrenheit from the on-site WBGT device. Kentucky sits in Region 3, the warmer-climate set. The row colour follows the Flash alert scale your athletic trainers already see in the app.
| WBGT (°F) | Activity limit | Rest breaks | Football, lacrosse, field hockey equipment |
|---|---|---|---|
| < 82.0 | Normal activities | At least three separate rest breaks each hour of minimum duration of 3 minutes each during workout | None listed |
| 82.1 – 86.9 | Use discretion for intense or prolonged exercise; watch at-risk players carefully. Cold Water immersion tub or other rapid cooling method should be prepared and ready to go | At least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 4 minutes each | None listed |
| 87.1 – 90.0 | Maximum practice time is 2 hours, not including rest breaks. Cold Water immersion tub or other rapid cooling method should be prepared and ready to go | At least four separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 4 minutes each | Protective equipment should be limited to helmets and shoulder pads, and these should be removed for conditioning |
| 90.1 – 91.9 | Maximum practice time is 1 hour. No post-practice or contest conditioning | 20 minutes of rest breaks distributed throughout each hour of practice, at least 10 minutes every 30 minutes | No protective equipment may be worn during practice |
| ≥ 92.0 | No Outdoor Workouts. Delay practice until a cooler WBGT level is reached | — | — |
Source: KHSAA 2025-26 Handbook, Board of Control Policies and Procedures, Heat Index and Monitoring, Sec. 4, Required Activity Alteration (pp. 18–19), checked 15 Oct 2026; KHSAA lists the 2025-26 policies as the version legally in force. Ranges as printed. If the WBGT rises into 87.1–90.0 during practice, football players may continue to work out wearing protective gear without changing into shorts. Contests in baseball, cross country and football follow separate WBGT rules in Sec. 5.
Where does Flash fit?
Flash is a forecast for planning, not an on-site meter: KHSAA compliance uses only the reading from the WBGT device at your site. Flash's 6-hour WBGT outlook tells you at 1 pm what the 4 pm reading is likely to be, so you can move practice instead of cancelling it.
Heat: plan, don't cancel
The outlook runs per field for every hour of the afternoon, against the five KHSAA bands. Shift the start, swap the equipment plan or go indoors before the cars arrive.
Lightning: up to 60 minutes ahead
Strike-level prediction on a 1×1 km cell, refreshed every 2 minutes. Up to 99.6% lightning prediction accuracy on a one-hour window, measured against NLDN ground-truth strikes — method published.
Accuracy methodReturn to play: the all-clear timer
After the last strike inside your radius, Flash runs your policy's all-clear timer and logs it, so play resumes on evidence.
Weather Command Center
Flash Heat and WBGT prediction 6-hour WBGT outlook, heat index, air temperature and dew point per 1×1 km cell
What does a planning day look like?
Illustrative example · Not live weather — the readings are examples, the rules are the KHSAA's
6:00 pm · The reading that decides the day
The band you land in sets the clock, the breaks and the pads.
Flash 6-hour WBGT outlook for the practice field: 86 by 3 pm, into 87.1–90.0 by 4 pm. The athletic director flags the football session.
Decision: run at 4 pm under the 2-hour cap with four 4-minute breaks an hour, or push to 6:30 pm. The AD pushes. The bus, the trainers and the parents hear now, not at 3:45.
On-site reading 30 minutes before practice, from a device on a tripod in the sun since 5:40: 84.6, the 82.1–86.9 band. Three 4-minute breaks per hour, the cooling tub ready, and the reading goes on Form GE20.
Flash lightning alert: a strike is predicted inside the site radius within the next 60 minutes. The field clears.
Last strike inside the radius. Flash starts the all-clear timer.
All clear. Practice resumes; the alert log records who was warned, when, and when play returned.
What should the athletic director keep on file?
The KHSAA has measurements recorded on Form GE20, available for inspection on request and kept for the district or school records retention schedule. Keep these together so a question from the KHSAA, the district or a parent is answered from one folder.
- Form GE20 for each session: WBGT readings with times, from 30 minutes before activity, and the activity revision each one triggered.
- Which device took the readings: tripod-mounted on site, or a permanently installed campus tool for sports that allow it.
- The band each reading fell in and the decision it triggered: practice time, rest breaks, protective equipment.
- The rapid cooling set-up for the session: cold-water immersion tub or TACO, and ice towels above 85.0.
- The Flash alert log: lightning alerts, who was notified, the all-clear, and the 6-hour outlook the schedule decision was based on.
Which other states publish WBGT policies?
Every state page follows this template: verified thresholds, the reading cadence, what to keep on file, and where the WBGT forecast fits.
State by state
Same instrument, different bands — the WBGT forecast travels with you.
- Georgia (GHSA)
- Texas (UIL)
- Florida (FHSAA)
- Arizona (AIA)
- Arkansas (AAA)
- Colorado (CHSAA)
- Hawaii (HHSAA)
- Illinois (IHSA)
- Kansas (KSHSAA)
- Massachusetts (MIAA)
- Mississippi (MHSAA)
- Missouri (MSHSAA)
- Nevada (NIAA)
- New Hampshire (NHIAA)
- New Mexico (NMAA)
- North Carolina (NCHSAA)
- Ohio (OHSAA)
- West Virginia (WVSSAC)
- Oklahoma (OSSAA)
- Alabama (AHSAA)
- California (CIF)
- Connecticut (CIAC)
- Iowa (IHSAA / IGHSAU)
- Louisiana (LHSAA)
- Minnesota (MSHSL)
- Nebraska (NSAA)
- New Jersey (NJSIAA)
- New York (NYSPHSAA)
- South Carolina (SCHSL)
- South Dakota (SDHSAA)
- Utah (UHSAA)
- Vermont (VPA)
- Virginia (VHSL)
- Washington (WIAA)
- Wisconsin (WIAA)
Sources
- KHSAA — 2025-26 Handbook, Board of Control Approved Policies and Procedures: Heat Index and Monitoring, Secs. 1–7 (pp. 17–20). Thresholds, on-site monitoring, testing procedures, contest rules, rest breaks, rapid cooling. Checked 15 Oct 2026.khsaa.org/common_documents/handbook/2025-2026//2025-26%20Handbook-04-Board%20of%20Control%20Approved%20Polices%20and%20Procedures.pdf (opens in a new tab)
- KHSAA — 2025-2026 Handbook page, stating the 2025-26 Board of Control policies are the version legally in force. Checked 15 Oct 2026.khsaa.org/general/2025-2026-handbook/ (opens in a new tab)
- KHSAA — Form GE20, Heat Index / Wet Bulb Globe Measurement and Record (Rev. 06/23). Checked 15 Oct 2026.khsaa.org/forms/ge20.pdf (opens in a new tab)
KHSAA documents are published at khsaa.org (opens in a new tab).
Frequently asked
No. The KHSAA accepts only readings from a WBGT device at the practice or contest site; no website, phone app or other program can substitute. Flash's 6-hour outlook tells you where that reading is heading — a scheduling tool, not a compliance instrument.
At any practice or contest where the temperature is at or above 82.2 degrees, at any time of year. Start 30 minutes before activity, keep measuring through the session, and re-read every 30 minutes once the WBGT is above 86.9.
Contests have their own rules in Sec. 5. In football, a kick-off WBGT of 87.0 or above brings a 3-minute hydration break at or near the 6-minute mark of each quarter; at 90.0 or above, breaks at or near the 4- and 8-minute marks.
Follow the band you are now in. If consecutive readings keep moving between categories, the policy says to follow the higher-risk one. Football players already in gear when the WBGT reaches 87.1–90.0 may keep working out without changing into shorts.