Meteorologists say game delay right call
Hearing thunder is key, NOAA says; league relied on own service.
Sunday’s Dolphins-Titans game was delayed four hours by lightning, but even without a strike, caution was best option.
The Dolphins, Tennessee Titans and football fans endured four hours of lightning delays even though there was only one strike within a mile of Hard Rock Stadium during Sunday’s marathon.
Which doesn’t mean the league should be flagged for delay of game.
Meteorologists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Monday that a sizzling 92 strikes were recorded within 5 miles of the stadium between the 1:02 p.m. kickoff and 8:10 p.m., when the clock hit 0:00 and the Dolphins had recorded a 27-20 season-opening victory.
So with lightning striking around — but not at the stadium — the longest game in the modern era of the NFL was delayed twice because of weather. There was a second-quarter postpone
ment of 1 hour, 57 minutes and a third-quarter delay of 2:02. Fans were instructed to seek shelter in the concourses even though there were periods of sunshine beating down on the field.
It was the correct call, according to James Thomas, a meteorologist at NOAA, who said despite
advancements in forecasting, tools to predict lightning strikes “are not as reliable as we’d like.”
Thomas added, “It’s important for those in the public to understand that when you hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck by lightning. It’s important to get out of the open and get away from metal structures. Rain does not necessarily have to be on top of you to experience lightning.”
The NFL did not rely on the NOAA office in Miami on Sunday. Instead, the league contracts a third-party meteorological service that specifically monitors conditions at every game.
Saying that safety at the stadium “is the top priority,” the league’s game operations manual lays out steps taken for inclement weather and “specifically lightning.”
The league’s Game Day Operations Center (GDOC) in New York communicates with the game referee and on-site football operations representative if trouble is on the horizon. With 1:11 left in the second quarter Sunday, referee Jerome Boger turned on his field microphone and informed everyone this was the case. He suspended play.
Boger and the GDOC remained in contact, receiving delay estimates from forecasters.
Meanwhile, the Dolphins were responsible for addressing the safety of fans and employees.
As Boger was sorting out when it would be appropriate to resume play, he checked with Dolphins coach Adam Gase and Titans coach Mike Vrabel to discuss the length of warmups. Ten minutes are usually allotted, but if delays go beyond a half-hour, 15 minutes are permissible. Sunday’s warmups were about 10 minutes.
Only NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is authorized to cancel, postpone, terminate or alter the normal timing of a game. He presumably made the decision to play the final 1:11 of the second quarter, then keep the teams on the field at “halftime” and start the third quarter after a 31/2-minute commercial break for Fox.
The Dolphins spent the delays in their locker room. Some players watched other games on TVs tuned to the Red Zone. Some studied playbooks, ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or changed uniforms. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill napped for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, former Dolphins expressed curiosity.
“Delay of game for weather??” Hall of Fame fullback Larry Csonka tweeted. “Shula didn’t even cancel PRACTICE for lightning!”
Ex-cornerback Sam Madison said coach Jimmy Johnson wouldn’t have put up with all this, although it was unclear if Madison was joking that J.J. wouldn’t allow delays for lightning or wouldn’t permit lightning to interrupt his games, period.
Hard Rock Stadium is in its second season with a canopy to shield fans from the elements. Spires extend 357 feet in the air from all four corners of the stadium, but they are not giant lightning rods. They are not safety features.
“It doesn’t always strike the highest spot and doesn’t always strike metal,” the NOAA’s Thomas said of lightning.
Nor should anyone ever see sunshine and assume it’s safe to be outside. Lightning occurs when ice particles and electrical charge build up.
“If thunderstorms are around, even five or 10 miles away, you can have a lightning strike that leaves the cloud,” Thomas said. “It leaves the rain shaft and hits an area that’s unsuspecting. That’s why we have rules in place.”