Near-record heat changes start time for at least 3 desert football games

At least three high school football games in the Coachella Valley will start later on Friday evening because of near-record heat affecting Southern California this week.

Palm Springs High School will host Eisenhower High at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The game has been moved back 30 minutes, according to Palm Springs Unified School District officials.

"Please be advised that due to a possible high heat index, today's game between Palm Springs High School and Eisenhower High School will be played at a later time," the announcement said. "To ensure the safety of all athletes, the game will now take place at 7:30 p.m."

Jason Castillo, the athletic director at Coachella Valley High School, said the Arabs will push the start time of their Friday home game against Eldorado, a high school from Las Vegas, to 7:30 p.m.

According to Matt Garrison, the athletic director at Desert Christian Academy, the Conquerors game at Desert Mirage has also switched to a 7:30 p.m. start. The decision was made by Coachella Valley Unified School District.

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Of the four regularly scheduled games in the desert, Citrus Hill at Desert Hot Springs is the only game still set for 7 p.m.

Kai Lyles, the athletic director at Desert Hot Springs, said school officials monitored conditions Thursday night, and the wet bulb temperature dropped under the critical level at 6 p.m. They will monitor conditions again this evening and adjust as needed.

The wet bulb temperature is a measure of the heat stress in direct sunlight and takes into account temperature, humidity, wind speed, sun angle and cloud cover. It's described as a measurement of the temperature read by a thermometer covered in a wet cloth. As water evaporates, it cools the thermometer, similar to how the human body cools itself through sweat, so the reading is meant to mimic the effect of the weather on a person being active outdoors.

At noon Friday, the temperature was already 109 degrees at Palm Springs International Airport. The National Weather Service has a forecasted high of 117 degrees on Friday.

This comes after Palm Springs reached 121 degrees on Thursday , falling one degree shy of tying the record high for the date.

California schools are paying even closer attention to weather conditions this season after the adoption of State Law AB 1653 and CIF Bylaw 503 K. State Law AB 1653 and CIF Bylaw 503 K combine to create the heat illness and air quality index protocols for all outdoor high school sports in California. In the fall that covers football, girls' tennis, girls' golf, boys' water polo, girls' flag football, boys' and girls' cross country and cheerleading.

Already this week, several junior varsity or freshman football games were canceled because of the conditions outside. In addition, Palm Springs and Indio had girls' tennis matches delayed.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Near-record heat changes start time for at least 3 desert football games