Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412100026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
It was about the weather.
That's an especially hot topic in Salem this week, considering the weather at last year's Stagg Bowl, when the wind chill plunged to 5 degrees and snow squalls left fans shivering in the restrooms.
After that teeth-chattering experience, Salem officials haven't been taking chances. "I put every heater in the valley on reserve in September," says John Saunders, assistant director at the Salem Civic Center.
But heaters won't solve this year's game day weather problem: Rain.
Two fronts loaded with precipitation are headed our way, one from the Midwest, one from Texas. National Weather Service forecasters have been trying all week to figure out whether they'll merge into one big storm, or stay as two little ones.
As of Thursday night, they still weren't sure.
But the National Weather Service says it is sure there will be some kind of rain - probably starting this afternoon and ending about the time the game ends Saturday afternoon.
For now, the official forecast is for "steady" rain, perhaps a half an inch, and temperatures just under 50 degrees.
"It won't be the greatest day for football," says Chip Knappenberger, in the Virginia climatologist's office. "But it could be worse."
After all, we could have had last year's weather again.
by CNB