West Virginia-Kansas weather updates: Weather delay called after lightning at Big 12 showdown
By Craig Meyer, USA TODAY NETWORK,
2024-09-21
This story was updated to add new information.
For the second time in the first month of the 2024 college football season, West Virginia dealt with a weather delay.
The Mountaineers’ game against Kansas Saturday was suspended with 10:43 remaining in the fourth quarter due to lightning and inclement weather in the Morgantown, West Virginia area.
West Virginia's Milan Puskar Stadium was effectively cleared, with those in attendance informed via the stadium's jumbotron to seek shelter on the concourse, in restrooms, in the nearby indoor practice facility or in their vehicles.
Coach Neal Brown’s team has been used to such stoppages. West Virginia’s season-opening 34-12 loss to Penn State was delayed for more than two hours because of lightning in the area.
The host Mountaineers trailed Kansas 21-17 in a matchup of Big 12 teams with 1-2 records, both of which badly need a win to try to turn around their seasons. West Virginia ultimately prevailed 32-28 to advance to 2-2, while Kansas fell to 1-3.
4:45 p.m.: And, after a delay of about two hours, we're back.
4:36 p.m.: Coverage of the game will resume at 4:42 p.m. on ESPNews, ESPN+ and the ESPN app, moving over from its previous spot on ESPN2.
4:18 p.m.: We've got a restart time...with a caveat. If there isn't a lightning strike before 4:29 p.m., the game will resume at 4:44 p.m.
3:43 p.m.: A live look from Milan Puskar Stadium. Again, it might be a while.
3:38 p.m.: Severe storms continue in eastern Monongalia County, of which Morgantown is the county seat, with the National Weather Service noting that these types of storms have previously included "large hail and damaging winds."
3:17 p.m.: The wait for the game to resume could be a lengthy one. West Virginia announced just before 3 p.m. that it was expecting lightning to be in the area for 90 minutes, according to Mike Casazza of 247Sports. Once the lightning is gone, there's a 30-minute waiting period before the game can resume.
3:14 p.m.: Though it's just east of Morgantown, the severe thunderstorm warning remains in effect for Cheat Lake until 3:30 p.m. Winds in the area have picked up all the way to 70 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
3:04 p.m.: The National Weather Service office in Pittsburgh has issued a severe thunderstorm warning in the area just to the east of Morgantown, including nearby Cheat Lake.
2:56 p.m .: Here’s a better look at what the weather in the area looks like, courtesy of Kansas City meteorologist Mike Nicco.
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