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An empty floodlit high school football field at dusk with heat haze over the turf, the kind of humid summer evening MSHSL WBGT guidelines cover in Minnesota

State heat policy · Minnesota (MSHSL) · Checked 15 Oct 2026

Minnesota high school heat policy: MSHSL WBGT thresholds, practice limits, and how to plan around them

The MSHSL's heat guidelines split Minnesota into two climate regions, North and South, each with five WBGT bands that set practice length, rest breaks in the shade and football equipment. Here are the bands as the MSHSL prints them, what to keep on file, and how a 6-hour WBGT outlook lets you move practice instead of cancelling it.

Flash Meteorology Desk · Checked against the MSHSL Competition or Practice Guidelines for Heat, updated 7/7/26 (mshsl.org) · Checked 15 Oct 2026 · 6 min read

WBGT outlook · Field B · 6 hours

12:58

82.182921 pm2 pm3 pm4 pm5 pm6 pm
  • 4 pm · 83.4 — in 82.1–85
  • Under 82.1 after 5:10

Move practice to 5:30 — the on-site reading stays the record.

Illustrative example · Not live weather
On this page · 8 sections

What does the MSHSL recommend?

The MSHSL board policy is a recommendation for member schools to build into their programs. Coaches or administrators collect the WBGT at the start of each practice and hourly during any event where heat illness could occur: above 73.5 in the North region and 77.1 in the South. Workouts, practices and competitions should be modified to the band.

Rest breaks are planned in the shade where possible. If heat stress moves into the danger ranges, the mid-to-high 80s in the red zone, events are cancelled or postponed. Without an instrument, schools plot hourly air temperature and relative humidity on the policy chart or use the National Weather Service site; the MSHSL plans to recommend a standard app.

  • Reading cadence

    At the start of each practice and hourly during the event, once the WBGT is above 73.5 (North) or 77.1 (South).

  • North or South

    Minnesota is split into two climate regions with different thresholds. The MSHSL shows the boundary on a map.

  • Rest in the shade

    Rest breaks are planned in the shade where possible for outdoor activities.

  • Cool first

    For heat illness, the emergency action plan rule is cool first, transport second.

The MSHSL WBGT threshold table

Five bands, read in degrees Fahrenheit, printed for the South and North regions. The row colour follows the Flash alert scale your athletic trainers already see in the app.

MSHSL WBGT activity modification chart for Minnesota high school practice: five bands for the South region, from less than 77.1 to greater than 87.1, and the North region, from less than 73.5 to greater than 83.5, with practice, rest-break and football rules
South (°F)North (°F)Practice recommendationAll sports changesAdditional football changes
Less than 77.1Less than 73.5Normal ActivitiesProvide at least 3 separate rest breaks (shade) each hour with a minimum duration of 3 minutes each during the workoutNone listed
77.1 – 8273.5 – 78.4Caution for intense or prolonged exerciseWatch at-risk players carefully. Provide at least 3 separate breaks (shade) each hour with a minimum duration of 4 minutes eachNone listed
82.1 – 8578.5 – 81.4Maximum practice time is 2 hoursProvide at least 4 separate breaks (shade) each hour with a minimum duration of 4 minutes eachPlayers are restricted to helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts during practice
85.1 – 87.181.5 – 83.5Maximum practice time is 1 hour20 minutes of rest breaks (shade) distributed throughout the hour of practiceNo protective equipment may be worn during practice, and there may be no conditioning activities
Greater than 87.1Greater than 83.5No outdoor workouts or non-air conditioned indoor workoutsDelay practice until a cooler WBGT level is reached—

Source: MSHSL Board Policy, Competition or Practice Guidelines for Heat, updated 7/7/26, Activity Modification Chart (mshsl.org), checked 15 Oct 2026. Ranges as printed. If the WBGT rises into the third band during practice, football players may continue to work out wearing football pants without changing to shorts. Exertional heat stroke can occur in the lower risk ranges.

Where does Flash fit?

Flash is a forecast for planning, not an on-site meter: MSHSL modifications run on the WBGT collected at the start of practice and hourly. 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 bands for your region. 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 method

  • Return 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 MSHSL's (South)

An empty high school practice field under a hazy hot sun with a shade canopy and water coolers on the sideline, the setting for an MSHSL WBGT planning day in Minnesota

6:30 pm · The reading that decides the day

The band you land in sets the clock, the shaded breaks and the pads.

  1. Flash 6-hour WBGT outlook for a South-region practice field: 81 by 3 pm, into 82.1–85 by 4 pm. The athletic director flags the football session.

  2. Decision: run at 4 pm under the 2-hour cap with four 4-minute shaded 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.

  3. WBGT collected at the start of practice: 79.8, the 77.1–82 band. Three 4-minute breaks in the shade go on the plan; the next reading is in an hour.

  4. Flash lightning alert: a strike is predicted inside the site radius within the next 60 minutes. The field clears.

  5. Last strike inside the radius. Flash starts the all-clear timer.

  6. 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 MSHSL policy does not set a records rule. Keeping these together still means a question from the MSHSL, the district or a parent is answered from one folder.

  • Which region, North or South, the school follows.
  • WBGT readings with times: at the start of practice, then hourly during the event.
  • The band each reading fell in and the decision it triggered: practice length, shaded rest breaks, football equipment.
  • The emergency action plan, with cool-first, transport-second for heat illness.
  • 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.

Heat haze over an open field at midday, the conditions each state association's WBGT policy sets practice limits for

State by state

Same instrument, different bands — the WBGT forecast travels with you.

All state heat policies

Sources

  1. MSHSL — Board Policy: Competition or Practice Guidelines for Heat, updated 7/7/26. North and South bands, reading cadence, activity modification chart. Checked 15 Oct 2026.mshsl.org/sites/default/files/2026-07/heat-weather-policy-7-7-26.pdf (opens in a new tab)
  2. MSHSL — Weather condition guidelines for competition or practice, mshsl.org, linking the heat guidelines. Checked 15 Oct 2026.mshsl.org/weather-condition-guidelines-competition-or-practice (opens in a new tab)

MSHSL documents are published at mshsl.org (opens in a new tab).

Frequently asked

No. MSHSL modifications run on the WBGT collected at the practice site. Flash's 6-hour outlook tells you where that reading is heading — a scheduling tool, not a compliance instrument.

The MSHSL divides Minnesota into a North and a South climate region and shows the line on a map in the policy. Check that map, or ask the MSHSL, before the season.

If heat stress moves into the danger ranges, a WBGT in the mid-to-high 80s in the red zone. Above 87.1 in the South or 83.5 in the North there are no outdoor workouts.

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