Inclement weather

[U_of_I_Blue]

Game is postponed due to lightning in the area. After about a 20 minute delay in the start, we've got sunny skies and no lightining any more, so let's get the game going. After an inning and a half (it was 10U and a looooong inning and a half score was 11-6 after that), my field umpire sees lighting, I can't it's behind me. Calls time, tells me, we clear them off the field.

This is one of the first weather situations I've had to deal with, the other one was easy because the skies opened up and made the field unplayable rather quick.

My question to you guys is, how long do you wait to see if this stuff is going to blow over? Since this is a recreational summer league and not super organized, I said to the coaches "as long as I see lighting bolts, we're not playing. We'll wait here as long as the two of you want to see if it passes over, but as long as I'm seeing lightning, we're not going back on that field." Is this wrong, should I have put a time frame on it (say "we'll wait 30 minutes, still lightning, we're done)?

Just to let you know, we ended up waiting about 40 minutes then the visiting coach said let's go home, so we left. Your input appreciated.

-Josh

[Duke]

Should have waited 30 minutes after the last lightning siting before re-starting the game. If you see lightning at the 25 minute mark, the 30 minute count starts again. Here is the ASA link to their lightning policy. It is very hard to sit the 30 minutes when the sun is out and everyone wants to get the game going but it must be done.

http://www.asasoftball.com/about/lightning.asp

This weekend there was a fisherman killed on a small lake only a few miles from where I live. A major storm blew through and this guy decided to wait out the storm in his boat while sitting in a cove on the lake. His partner in the boat was unharmed.

[U_of_I_Blue]

Duke-

We waited 30 minutes. The last strike we saw was at 5:45, game got started at 6:20. My main question is, how long do you wait before you actually call the game (as long as the storm is not severe and threatening to spawn tornadoes or anything of the nature)?

-Josh