CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas high school athletics now requires the use of wet bulb globe temperature readings to protect student athletes and marching band members from heat stress during outdoor activities.
The wet bulb globe temperature, or WBGT, is calculated using three separate temperature readings: wet bulb temperature, globe temperature, and air temperature. Unlike a standard thermometer reading, WBGT accounts for sun angle, wind speed, cloud cover, humidity, and temperature — giving a more complete picture of heat stress on the human body.
The UIL made WBGT monitoring a mandate this year, though some programs had already been using the measurement for several years.
Calallen uses the Perry Weather system to monitor conditions, with staff receiving text alerts when thresholds are reached.
Lauren Dillon, an athletic trainer at Calallen ISD told us, "We use Perry Weather here at Calallen, so we have it all on our phones and we all get text messages. We hit the red zone, which means you have to take your helmets and shoulder pads off, but we fortunately have an indoor, so we just came inside and got to finish. We've been doing it for a few years now and then the UIL made it a mandate this year, so we didn't have to change too much."
As the calendar turns to September, conditions are expected to improve for outdoor activities. Sun angle decreases as fall approaches, and September is climatologically the wettest month of the year in Corpus Christi — meaning additional cloud cover is likely to help lower WBGT readings.
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