With the heat index rising to its highest levels of the summer in the Chattanooga area this week, officials for Hamilton County Schools have moved kickoff times for Friday’s high school football games in the county back by 30 minutes to 8 p.m.
Unaffected by the change are private schools in the county as well Hamilton County high school football teams playing away games outside the county. However, the Red Bank at Rhea County game has also been moved to an 8 p.m. start.
The National Weather Service forecast for Friday in Chattanooga calls for temperatures to reach 98 degrees with a heat index as high as 106 degrees with very little wind. The heat index includes humidity as a factor.
“The safety of our student-athletes is always our number one priority,” said Tim James, the athletic director for Hamilton County Schools and a former football coach. “Looking at the forecast, with an extreme heat advisory in effect until after 7 p.m., we wanted to take every precautionary measure and err on the side of safety.
“We also wanted to make the fan experience more pleasant since nobody wants to sit in the stands in that type of heat and humidity.”