Weather happens

By Barclay Kruse, NSC Chief Communications Officer (& Schwan's USA CUP Media Director)

Over the last 22 years, Schwan's USA CUP, presented by PUMA, has seen rain, sun, wind, heat, humidity and yes, even a day or two of chilly weather. On Wednesday, it was heat and humidity punctuated by a brief suspension for lightning.

At 16:15 (4:15 pm) lighting was observed in a narrow line of thunderstorms several miles to the west and south of the National Sports Center (NSC). No rain fell on the campus, and no lightning was observed right at the NSC, but tournament officials declared a precautionary suspension. This was a short one; just 35 minutes later, the all-clear was given and games resumed.

Left: Radio Operations Director Nancy Terry, Tournament Director Teri Vogt, and Scheduler Matt Koehn consult during today's weather suspension.

Schwan's USA CUP staff is well-practiced at dealing with severe weather. The key is clear communication -- and having the tools to communicate.

It's next to impossible that the tournament would be taken by surprise. The facility subscribes to a sophistocated weather radar service, and has access to a lightning prediction system called "Thorguard." In addition to technology, we use the most reliable source of all, human visual observation.

“We know that a lot of people didn’t observe lightning themselves,” said Tournament Director Teri Vogt. “But our radar and lightning detection software picked up lightning within the five-mile radius that weather experts consider dangerous.”

Vogt said that once a lightning strike is observed, tournament policy states that a 30-minute wait is required before declaring an all-clear. That’s the same length of time used by most high-school athletic associations and large outdoor events like PGA golf tournaments.

Today's suspension was so short that communication was relatively simple. But if delays stretch for hours -- as has happened -- then rumors begin to fly as teams wait out the delay. Schwan's USA CUP has learned to never speculate or guess about what will happen with the weather, or how the tournament will reschedule games.

“It's sometimes frustrating for coaches who would like us to predict when games might resume. But until we know with certainty, we never play that game,” said Vogt.

Once a severe-weather suspension is declared, all field managers are notified by radio, and the suspension is posted on the website. Teams and spectators are told to seek shelter. Personal cars and NSC campus buildings suffice for most. But school busses are moved to the most remote parking lots to serve as temporary shelter, and once full, busses then move to a fixed building location. With several large buildings on campus, including the Sports Hall, Schwan Super Rink and the Schwan Center, the NSC has the capability of sheltering everyone inside a fixed building.

Right: The 13 boys NESA Lightning (ironic huh?), from the Twin Cities, show good humor as they wait out today's weather suspension in the Schwan Center.

Referees all convene in referee headquarters, so the information they receive is consistent.

The tournament also subscribes to a cell phone service called One Call Now that allows us to call all teams simultaneously on their contact cell phone. We didn't need to use it today, but in a longer delay it should prove useful.

Severe weather is never fun. But as today's relatively smooth suspension and resumption of play showed, Schwan's USA CUP tries hard to minimize the confusion once a decision is made.