Quote:
Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA
'96 Men's A Industrial, late morning the UIC & Umpire Coodinator come to the fields and instruct us to stop the game and get everyone off the field and tell them to find cover. Everyone, umpires, players & fans, was confused as to what was going on. Sun was out and hot, no sign of anything threatening. We got to the umpire area, laughing and joking around, but still confused. Less than five minutes later, a nasty thunderstorm blew through with some rain, some lightning and, obviously, thunder. About 10 minutes or so later, the told the umpires to return to the fields and get em going again in about 5 minutes. Actually took closer to 10-15 by the time the teams got back from the parking lot.
The point is they did not hesitate once they knew the storm had cleared. The Tampa-Lakeland area is constantly dealing with this type of weather and they are the professionals when it comes to dealing with it. The whole area lightning-centric and I wouldn't hesitate for a second in trusting their judgment. .
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One of the issues with T-storms is how quick they can develop. While I was still growing up, we had an issue with storms that quickly developed after another left the area. HS Football opener. Stadium was cleared as a T-storm moved through. 15 minutes passed since the last sight/sound of lightning/thunder (Guidelines in place at the time). Everyone is brought back into the stadium. As soon as the first snap after it resumed occurred. A huge flash of lightning occurred causing the stadium to be cleared again. As people were leaving the stadium going into the HS, a bolt hits the light pole, goes through the pole to the ground and seriously injures 9 high school students walking from the stadium towards the school.
The storm had suddenly developed largely from moisture that was left by the departing storm. The weather radar showed the storm developed rapidly right over the top of the stadium within a matter of a couple minutes.
This isn't the first time a storm like this developed quickly. Storms like this have been known to bring down planes. It might look clear after a storm, then suddenly, with little warning, another storm develops and all heck breaks loose.
Waiting the 30 minutes is a highly recommended guideline that should be followed. You never know what will happen after one storm has hit. Most of the time nothing happens, but there is always that slight chance that something bad will happen and that chance to to great to risk the life of people on a softball diamond.