On a Saturday, filled with football, breaking out ponchos and rain boots is far from ideal.
“Many people have asked us to make it stop raining. I really wish we had that power, but we don’t unfortunately,” Dennis Cavanaugh, Warning Coordination Meteorologist for the National Weather Service said.
Cavanaugh and his team were among public safety officials on hand for Saturday’s Razorback game at War Memorial Stadium.
“What we’re doing out here is supporting the public safety officials, helping them make decisions for public safety, mainly ‘is lightning going to approach the stadium? Do they need to move people out of harms way before anybody gets hurt by lightning?’”
With an isolated lightning strike possible, the team from NWS Little Rock watched the skies. They also placed a weather station on the Arkansas sideline to monitor conditions.
“The weather station there is monitoring the on-the-field wind, the temperature and the rain rate,” Cavanaugh said.
Along with public safety officials, both teams also had access to the data.
"We’re here for everyone as a neutral party so anybody can get that weather information if they want it,” Cavanaugh said.
