On this page · 8 sections
What does NYSPHSAA require?
When the air temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, a certified athletic trainer, the athletic director or a school designee checks the Feels Like temperature (heat index) or a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature indicator on the field 1 hour before the contest or practice. The heat index can come from the WeatherBug app or weatherbug.com, entered by zip code or city and state.
If the reading is in the recommended range — yellow on WeatherBug, or green, yellow, orange or red on the WBGT chart — it is checked again at halftime or the midway point of the contest. If it is in the required range — red on WeatherBug, or black on the WBGT chart — the contest is suspended.
When to check
Whenever the air temperature is 80°F or higher, 1 hour before the contest or practice.
Who checks
A certified athletic trainer, the athletic director, or a school designee.
Recheck
In the recommended range, check again at halftime or the midway point of the contest.
Two methods
Heat index from WeatherBug, or a WBGT indicator on the field read against Category 1, 2 or 3.
The NYSPHSAA WBGT threshold table
Five bands from the WBGT chart, printed for three regional categories; Categories 2 and 1 are shown here and Category 3 is in the note below. The row colour follows the Flash alert scale your athletic trainers already see in the app.
| Cat 2 (°F) | Cat 1 (°F) | Activity limit | Rest breaks | Football equipment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 79.7 | Under 76.1 | Normal Activities | Provide at least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 3 min each during the workout | None listed |
| 79.9 – 84.6 | 76.3 – 81.0 | Use discretion for intense or prolonged exercise | Provide at least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 4 min each | None listed |
| 84.7 – 87.6 | 81.1 – 84.0 | Maximum practice time is 2 h | For All Sports: Provide at least four separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 4 min each | Players are restricted to helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts during practice |
| 87.8 – 89.6 | 84.2 – 86.0 | Maximum practice time is 1 h | For All Sports: There must be 20 min of rest breaks distributed throughout the hour of practice | No protective equipment may be worn during practice, and there may be no conditioning activities |
| 89.8 and above | 86.2 and above | No outdoor workouts. Delay practice until a cooler WBGT is reached | — | — |
Source: NYSPHSAA Heat Index Procedures, WBGT chart (nysphsaa.org, updated May 3, 2023), checked 15 Oct 2026. Ranges as printed. Category 3: under 82.0, 82.2–86.9, 87.1–90.0, 90.1–91.9, 92.1 and above. If the WBGT rises into the third band during practice, football players may continue to work out wearing football pants without changing to shorts. On the heat index chart, 96 degrees or greater means no outside activity, practice or contest; inside activity only if air conditioned.
Where does Flash fit?
Flash is a forecast for planning, not an on-site meter: NYSPHSAA decisions use the reading taken 1 hour before the practice or contest. 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 category. 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 NYSPHSAA's (Category 2)
5:30 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: 83.5 by 2 pm, into 84.7–87.6 by 3 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 and football in helmet, shoulder pads and shorts, or push to 6:30 pm. The AD pushes. The bus, the trainers and the parents hear now, not at 3:45.
Reading on the field 1 hour before practice: 82.1, the 79.9–84.6 band. Three 4-minute breaks per hour go on the plan.
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 procedure does not set a record-keeping rule. Keeping these together means a question from the section, the district or a parent is answered from one folder.
- Each pre-activity reading with its time, the method used (WeatherBug heat index or WBGT indicator) and who took it.
- Which WBGT category the school follows, and how that was decided.
- Halftime or midway rechecks, and any contest suspended in the required range.
- The band each reading fell in and the decision it triggered: practice length, rest breaks, football equipment.
- 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)
- Kentucky (KHSAA)
- Louisiana (LHSAA)
- Minnesota (MSHSL)
- Nebraska (NSAA)
- New Jersey (NJSIAA)
- South Carolina (SCHSL)
- South Dakota (SDHSAA)
- Utah (UHSAA)
- Vermont (VPA)
- Virginia (VHSL)
- Washington (WIAA)
- Wisconsin (WIAA)
Sources
- NYSPHSAA — Heat Index Procedures, approved May 1, 2010, updated May 3, 2023. Heat index chart, WBGT chart by category, administration. Checked 15 Oct 2026.nysphsaa.org/documents/2023/5/5/Heat_Index_Procedure_5_23.pdf?id=3080 (opens in a new tab)
- NYSPHSAA — Safety page, Heat Index & Wind Chill Procedures. Checked 15 Oct 2026.nysphsaa.org/sports/2021/6/8/safety.aspx (opens in a new tab)
NYSPHSAA documents are published at nysphsaa.org (opens in a new tab).
Frequently asked
No. NYSPHSAA decisions are made from the heat index or WBGT reading taken 1 hour before the practice or contest. Flash's 6-hour outlook tells you where that reading is heading — a scheduling tool, not a compliance instrument.
Whenever the air temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. The reading is taken 1 hour before the contest or practice by a certified athletic trainer, the athletic director or a school designee.
Under 79, full activity with no restrictions. Caution at 80 to 85 and Watch at 86 to 90 call for ample water and breaks; Watch adds 1 hour of recovery for every hour of practice. Warning at 91 to 95 adds water breaks every 15 minutes and, for practices, football helmets only. Alert at 96 or greater: no outside activity, practice or contest.
In the recommended range the reading is checked again at halftime or the midway point. In the required range — red on WeatherBug, black on the WBGT chart — the contest is suspended.