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Lightning - High School Rules
- Minimum Delay 30 Minutes
- Match Termination Varies

MHSAA Policy - At the first occurrence of lightning (regardless of how far away it may appear), the referee shall suspend the match, and swiftly advise the teams to seek shelter. Fans may also be advised, though the referee is not obligated to make such notification. Players shall not return to the playing field until lightning has been absent from the sky for 30 minutes.

Example #1 - Lightning is first observed at 2:00 PM, and continues intermittently for several minutes... the last lightning strike is observed at 2:20. Players may return to the field no sooner than 2:50 (30 minutes later). However, just before the players are about to return to the field, lightning is again observed (at 2:34). Now, players may not return until 3:04 (30 minutes later).

Maximum stoppage time
Beginning Fall 2007:
Delays for contests scheduled prior to 3 p.m. must not exceed three hours. Delays for contests scheduled for 3 p.m. or later must not exceed one and one half hour. Delays on nights not followed by school for all the competing teams may be longer by mutual agreement of participating schools. A postponed contest shall be rescheduled on a date/time mutually agreed to by the schools involved.Note... Consider these times to be accumulative. In other words, if the maximum stoppage time is 3 hours, and you return to play after waiting 2 hours 30 minutes, any further stoppage due to weather would cause you to suspend this match for today.

The decision to resume play after a suspension rests with the officials, after consulting both teams' coaches. If there is no consensus among the officials and coaches, the home team's desires are given priority consideration. The referee shall base his/her decision to resume play on the following factors (and in this order):

1. Safety for players
2. Liability for players
3. Field conditions
4. Future schedules (Can this match be rescheduled? ... Are there other matches to be played on this field today?)
5. Need to play (Is this a play-off match?)
6.The quality of other options

If players wish to return to the field early, advise the coach that players may not return until authorized by you. If the coach ignores you, report the incident to GLASRA's Assignor of High School Matches AND to the MHSAA through a written game report. The MHSAA will not tolerate abuse of our responsibility to assure the safety of players in the matter of lightning!