Friday Night Lights Forecast: Dry Skies and Mid-70s Kickoffs in the Valley
What is the Friday night football forecast for Columbus and Auburn area high schools?
Friday night football across the CNAW area is dry and calm, with kickoff temperatures from 72 degrees in LaFayette and Valley to 77 in Lanett and Cusseta, and 60s by the fourth quarter.
Photo: Yura Forrat / Pexels
Leave the stadium blanket at home Friday. Across all 19 counties we cover, the rain chance at every school in the viewing area is zero, the wind is 5 miles an hour or calm, and the sky runs from partly cloudy to mostly clear. Kickoff temperatures land between 72 and 77 degrees, and by the fourth quarter almost everyone is in the 60s. In the stands at Kinnett Stadium in Columbus, short sleeves are plenty early and a light layer is nice to have by the end.
The coolest football weather in the area is in Chambers County. Around LaFayette, home of LaFayette and Chambers Academy, and in Valley, where Valley and Beulah play, it will be 72 degrees around kickoff and 66 by the fourth quarter. The air there is a little more humid than elsewhere, in the mid to upper 60s for relative humidity, so it will feel soft rather than crisp. Greenville, in Meriwether County, is close behind at 74 degrees early and 66 late, with calm air.
The warmest kickoffs are only a few miles away. In Lanett, where Lanett and Springwood play, it will be 77 degrees around kickoff, easing to 69. Chattahoochee County in Cusseta also starts at 77, with the driest air anywhere in the area at 47 percent humidity, and settles to 70 by the fourth quarter.
In Columbus, where Shaw, Hardaway, Columbus, Spencer, Kendrick, Jordan, Carver, Northside, Calvary Christian, Pacelli and Brookstone all play, look for 76 degrees around kickoff under a mostly clear sky and 70 late. Across the river at Central-Phenix City, it is 75 degrees early and 69 late. Around LaGrange, home of LaGrange, Troup County and LaGrange Academy, expect 76 and 69, with the same numbers at Callaway in Hogansville, dropping to 68.
In Lee County it is a touch cooler. Auburn and Lee-Scott in Auburn start near 74 degrees and finish at 68, while Opelika and Beauregard start at 73 and drop to 67 — the coolest fourth quarter in the Auburn-Opelika area. Smiths Station and Glenwood sit at 74 and 68. Farther west, Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Loachapoka and Notasulga all begin around 74 degrees with calm to light wind.
South and east, Eufaula starts at 74 and cools to 67, and Barbour County in Clayton begins at 73 with no wind at all. Russell County in Seale goes 74 to 67. In the Georgia counties, Harris County in Hamilton runs 75 to 69, Manchester 75 to 67, Central-Talbotton and Taylor County in Butler 75 to 68, Marion County in Buena Vista, Webster County in Preston, Schley County in Ellaville and Stewart County in Lumpkin all near 76 early, Randolph Clay in Cuthbert 75 to 69, and Quitman County in Georgetown 76 to 70.
What to bring: nothing more than a light jacket or hoodie for the second half, and no umbrella anywhere. The sun sets at 7:33 tonight and we are losing about two minutes of daylight a day, so most of Friday's football will be played under the lights, with the temperature falling about a degree every 20 minutes once it does.
Friday night, school by school
Around kickoff → by the fourth quarter, on each school’s own clock.
No school or town by that name in the viewing area.
Central time in Alabama, Eastern in Georgia. Start times vary; check with the school. Forecast: National Weather Service.
Right now in Columbus, Georgia
67°Temperature
64°Dew point
90%Humidity
6 mphWind — northeast
30.15"Pressure
The next seven days
Day
High
Low
Rain
Conditions
TODAY
80°
61°
5%
Partly Sunny
FRI
82°
58°
0%
Sunny
SAT
85°
60°
0%
Sunny
SUN
87°
60°
2%
Mostly Sunny
MON
87°
62°
13%
Sunny
TUE
90°
65°
6%
Sunny
WED
91°
68°
20%
Sunny then Slight Chance Showers And Thunderstorms
Written by the CNAW 2 weather desk from CNAW 2 weather desk data. Last updated September 24, 2026 at 8:10 AM Eastern. Covering Columbus and Phenix City, Auburn–Opelika, LaGrange, Eufaula and the rest of the 19-county CNAW viewing area.
