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An empty floodlit high school football field at dusk with heat haze over the turf, the kind of hot evening the VPA WBGT procedure covers at Vermont schools

State heat policy · Vermont (VPA) · Checked 15 Oct 2026

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

The VPA's mandatory procedure for athletic activity in the heat sets five WBGT bands that decide how long practice runs, how often players rest and what football players wear. Schools start from Category 1 and may use Category 2 only when they meet the VPA's conditions. Here are the bands as the VPA 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 VPA Policy & Procedures on Emergency Preparedness (vpaonline.org) · Checked 15 Oct 2026 · 6 min read

WBGT outlook · Field B · 6 hours

12:58

81.182921 pm2 pm3 pm4 pm5 pm6 pm
  • 4 pm · 82.3 — in 81.1–84.0
  • Under 81.1 after 5:10

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

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

What does the VPA require?

Every member school must follow the VPA procedure for athletic participation in all sports during high heat or humidity. Designated athletic department staff, the athletic trainer where there is one, monitor the weather and send coaches an advisory, usually the day before and again on the day with any changes. The procedure follows guidance from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the American College of Sports Medicine and the Korey Stringer Institute.

Schools are required to use an on-site WBGT device; heat index charts and apps are allowed only if a device is cost-prohibitive. Readings are taken at the practice or game site from at least an hour before the event or warmups, then every 30 minutes when conditions are in the moderate-to-extreme range. A school may use the Category 2 bands only if it monitors with an on-site WBGT device, has a cold-water immersion tub ready and is rehearsed in rapid cooling; otherwise it uses Category 1.

  • Reading cadence

    At the practice or game site, from at least 1 hour before the event or warmups, then every 30 minutes in moderate-to-extreme risk.

  • Category 1 or Category 2

    Category 1 by default. Category 2 only with an on-site WBGT device, a ready cold-water tub and a rehearsed cooling plan.

  • Cold-water immersion

    An on-site cold-water immersion tub is required whenever there is a risk of high heat or humidity, at practices and games.

  • Shade and water

    Shaded areas easy to reach during rest and fluid breaks, with unlimited fluids. Avoid scheduling between 11 am and 4 pm.

The VPA WBGT threshold table

Five bands, read in degrees Fahrenheit from the on-site WBGT device. Use Category 1 unless your school meets the VPA conditions for Category 2. The row colour follows the Flash alert scale your athletic trainers already see in the app.

VPA WBGT activity guidelines for Vermont high school practice: five bands for Category 1, from under 76.1 to 86.2 and above, and Category 2, from under 79.7 to 89.8 and above, with practice-length, rest-break and football-equipment rules
Cat 1 (°F)Cat 2 (°F)Activity limitRest breaksFootball equipment
Under 76.1Under 79.7Normal ActivitiesProvide at least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 3 min each during the workoutNone listed
76.3 – 81.079.9 – 84.6Use discretion for intense or prolonged exerciseProvide at least three separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 4 min eachNone listed
81.1 – 84.084.7 – 87.6Maximum practice time is 2 hFor All Sports: Provide at least four separate rest breaks each hour with a minimum duration of 4 min eachFor Football: players are restricted to helmet, shoulder pads, and shorts during practice
84.2 – 86.087.8 – 89.6Maximum practice time is 1 hFor All Sports: There must be 20 min of rest breaks distributed throughout the hour of practiceFor Football: No protective equipment may be worn during practice, and there may be no conditioning activities
86.2 and above89.8 and aboveNo outdoor workouts. Delay practice until a cooler WBGT is reached——

Source: VPA Policy & Procedures on Emergency Preparedness for Athletics & Activities, Section 2, Table 1 (linked from vpaonline.org), checked 15 Oct 2026. Ranges as printed; the table also prints a Category 3 column, which Vermont schools do not use. If the WBGT rises into the third band during practice, football players may continue in football pants without changing to shorts.

Where does Flash fit?

Flash is a forecast for planning, not an on-site meter: the VPA procedure runs on the reading from your on-site WBGT device. 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 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 VPA's (Category 1)

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

5:30 pm · The reading that decides the day

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

  1. Flash 6-hour WBGT outlook for the practice field: 80 by 3 pm, into 81.1–84.0 by 4 pm. The athletic trainer emails coaches an advisory for the football session.

  2. 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.

  3. First on-site WBGT reading, an hour before practice: 79.4, the 76.3–81.0 band. Three 4-minute breaks per hour go on the plan and the cold-water tub is filled.

  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 VPA procedure does not set a records rule for readings, but it does require a rehearsed emergency action plan. Keeping these together means a question from the VPA, the district or a parent is answered from one folder.

  • WBGT readings with times: from an hour before the event, then every 30 minutes in moderate-to-extreme risk.
  • Which category the school uses, and for Category 2 the evidence it meets the VPA conditions.
  • The advisories sent to coaches and the band each reading fell in, with the decision it triggered.
  • The emergency action plan, its yearly rehearsal with local EMS, and the cold-water immersion setup.
  • 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. VPA — Policy & Procedures on Emergency Preparedness for Athletics & Activities: Emergency Action Plans, AEDs, Participation in the Heat. Table 1 thresholds, reading cadence, categories, cold-water immersion. Checked 15 Oct 2026.docs.google.com/document/d/1S9sbg5jv-oxSDLkGAptXvS-vaH-ohJP_ncltjey-yQQ/edit (opens in a new tab)
  2. VPA — Sports Medicine page, vpaonline.org, which links the policy. Checked 15 Oct 2026.vpaonline.org/athletics/vpa_sports_medicine/ (opens in a new tab)

VPA documents are published at vpaonline.org (opens in a new tab).

Frequently asked

No. The VPA requires an on-site WBGT device, and its reading decides the band. Flash's 6-hour outlook tells you where that reading is heading — a scheduling tool, not a compliance instrument.

Category 1, unless the school actively monitors with an on-site WBGT device, has a cold-water immersion tub ready and is rehearsed in rapid cooling. A school that meets all of those may use Category 2.

The table sets practice limits. For competitions the VPA lists modifications such as moving start times, a mandatory water time-out midway through each half and an extended halftime, and an on-site cold-water immersion tub is required.

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