Campus Alert Archive
CU Boulder

Lightning Pushes Colorado's Folsom Field Opener to an 8:45 P.M. Kickoff

COsevere stormadvisorymedium confidence
Confirmed Threat

A lightning strike near Folsom Field sent Colorado's September 2, 2022 season opener against TCU into a roughly 35-minute weather delay, pushing kickoff to about 8:45 p.m. MDT. The student section reportedly ignored the public-address announcer's pleas to seek shelter during the lightning hold.

Alerts
2
Response
—
Killed
—
Injured
—
Institution
University of Colorado Boulder
Public R1 · CO
~39,000 studentsCU Boulder Alerts
Confirmed Timeline

Alert Sequence

2 messages in sequence

Some alert texts below are approximate reconstructions from news coverage, not confirmed verbatim transcripts. Reconstructed texts are shown in italic with a dashed border. Verified verbatim texts have a solid border and are marked accordingly.

INITIAL ALERTPA System
Approximate reconstruction222 chars
Lightning has been detected near Folsom Field. For your safety, kickoff is delayed and fans are asked to leave the seating bowl and seek shelter. Play cannot begin until lightning has been clear of the area for 30 minutes.

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Reporting noted that the packed student section ignored the PA announcer's pleas to seek shelter, a notable compliance gap during a lightning hold.
Reconstructed from press accounts; no verbatim official archive of the in-stadium message was located, so isVerbatimConfirmed is false.
ALL CLEARTwitter/X
Approximate reconstruction142 chars
Weather has cleared. Kickoff vs. TCU is set for approximately 8:45 p.m. Fans may return to their seats. Thank you for your patience. Go Buffs!

This text has been reconstructed from news coverage and may not reflect the exact original wording.

Genuine all-clear: it sets a firm ~8:45 p.m. MDT kickoff and returns fans to their seats after the roughly 35-minute delay.
Reconstructed text; the exact official wording was not preserved.
Context

Background

Folsom Field in Boulder sits in a region prone to summer thunderstorms, and the venue's plan moves fans out of the seating bowl during lightning. On September 2, 2022, a lightning strike near the stadium sent the TCU-Colorado opener into a weather delay, pushing kickoff to about 8:45 p.m. MDT after roughly 35 minutes. BuffZone reported the packed student section ignored the PA announcer's pleas to seek shelter, and the Colorado Daily documented the night as TCU went on to win 38-13. The student-section non-compliance illustrates a recurring challenge of lightning evacuations at on-campus stadiums.
Analysis

Key Findings

A lightning strike near Folsom Field delayed the opener about 35 minutes, pushing kickoff to roughly 8:45 p.m. MDT
The student section reportedly ignored PA pleas to seek shelter, a notable lightning-hold compliance gap
Colorado is on Mountain Daylight Time in early September, so timestamps use the -06:00 offset
Alert text is reconstructed from press reporting, so it carries isVerbatimConfirmed: false
Outcome
After about a 35-minute delay, kickoff moved to roughly 8:45 p.m. MDT; TCU routed Colorado 38-13.
Provenance

Sources

  1. national media
    TCU vs. Colorado sent into a weather delay after lightning strike near Folsom Field - 247Sports
    247sports.com
  2. News
    CU Buffs routed by TCU in opener - BuffZone
    buffzone.com
  3. News
    CU Buffs routed by TCU in opener - Colorado Daily
    coloradodaily.com
Tags
severe-stormlightningweather-delaystadiumcoloradogame-day
Added May 2026Updated May 2026Via ingestion