MU prepares for a rainy football Saturday

Severe weather is in the forecast this weekend in mid-Missouri, according to ABC 17’s Stormtrack weather team

However, the much needed rain might cause some frustration for University of Missouri athletes and fans.

According to MU director of event management Tony Wirkus, it takes a lot for a game to be canceled. Typically, the game would be suspended first.

“An outright cancellation is not that common,” Wirkus said.

Since the University of Wyoming is not a member of the SEC, a game cancellation would be a decision between the two athletic directors, according to Wirkus.

He said measures are in place to ensure safety, including a lightning monitoring service to see how far away a lightning strike is from the field. If lightning is less than eight miles from the stadium, the game must be suspended.

Any threatening weather will be put on a video board, which gives football-goers an idea of if the game might come to a halt. If lightning strikes within eight miles of the game, it could be at least 30 minutes before the game resumes.

“It’s 30 minutes from the last strike within eight miles. Once it hits eight miles, you have to have 30 minutes of no lightening within those eight miles,” Wirkus said.

If weather does become severe enough, players will retreat to locker rooms, and fans will be notified to head to a nearby building.

Stormtrack Forecast for Saturday:

light to moderate showers through mid-afternoon with light rain gradually tapering off through the evening the air will be saturated, so light rain looks like it will take a while to end although the main moisture will be pulling east by then. improving conditions as the evening goes on

This forecast was last updated on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 4:20 p.m.