Barring lightning, Friday night’s West Plains High School Homecoming football game against the Logan-Rogersville Wildcats is to take place as planned, with kickoff at 7 p.m. at Zizzer Stadium, said West Plains R-7 District Superintendent Wes Davis in a statement emailed to parents and students Thursday afternoon.
The announcement followed up one made on Tuesday, in response to several in the community asking questions about plans in light of a forecast showing likely showers and a possible thunderstorm on Friday.
District officials are continuing to watch the weather forecast closely and will give an update on parade plans on Friday morning, and the dance will happen as scheduled, from 7 to 10 p.m. in the high school cafeteria on Saturday.
The location of halftime homecoming coronation activities will be decided before the game, Davis said; if heavy rain is present, it will be moved to the high school gym, otherwise, it will take place on the field as planned.
Ozark Radio Network will livestream the game and ceremony, and if moved indoors, the ceremony will be livestreamed on the West Plains Schools - Home of the Zizzers Facebook page to accommodate those who cannot attend, said Davis.
As of about 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday’s National Weather Service forecast shows a 100% chance of precipitation, mainly after 9 a.m. and before 7 p.m. A look at the hourly forecast for the day shows a 90% or above chance of rain between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Indeed National Weather Service officials in Springfield, attributing the projected rainfall to remnants of Hurricane Helene which will make landfall Thursday evening, said the highest rain chances are late Friday morning through afternoon across south-central Missouri and the eastern Ozarks. Between half an inch to an inch of rain is expected along and east of U.S. 63 with localized amounts potentially reaching 2 inches. A slight risk of flash flooding is expected along an eastward line from West Plains to Salem.
Forecasters also note that the weather system is increasingly looking like it will bring wind gusts of at least 40 mph from West Plains eastward, particularly in late morning into afternoon hours.