O'FALLON, Ill. — The weather is having a big impact on Fourth of July festivities across the area. Some localities are delaying or canceling their celebrations as a precaution. Others are getting in on the action early.
Thousands gathered Wednesday night in O’Fallon, Illinois, to catch fireworks ahead of the holiday.
The rain held off for the fireworks show, and it's exactly what people here were hoping for. People got in line hours ahead of the show to be there for that big moment.
It's what makes the Fourth of July, the holiday we love to celebrate.
"I like all the special colors in the sky,” said Synthia Kalinowski of Fairview Heights.
A day before the holiday, O’Fallon was ready to go for its annual fireworks display. 5 On Your Side was there as people began securing their viewing spots early at the O’Fallon Family Sports Park.
"I watched the news earlier and saw there's just a 20% chance of rain tonight during this time that they're going to be lighting them or doing them,” Terry Kalinowski said.
So he and his wife and friend decided to come on out, especially since....
"Tomorrow night it’s going to be less promising."
"We knew rain was in the forecast today and tomorrow, so we started contingency plans. Actually the 7th was going to be an alternate. If this got rained out, we had
already planned for Sunday the 7th,” said Fire Chief Brad White.
Fortunately, the show went on. Because of stormy weather on the Fourth of July, some places are delaying or canceling their shows altogether.
"I usually go to Mascoutah but I'm doing that tomorrow night,” Summer Bowman of Swansea said.
She has her fingers crossed because she just loves to see the spectacle in the sky.
"(I’m) getting to celebrate twice… Rain or shine, man, you gotta have the fireworks,” she said.
The big show lasted all of 12 minutes, although it took much more than that to plan the big event.
White is reminding families to leave the fireworks to the experts.
"Sparklers are 2,000 degrees. You put those in your kids’ hands and lots of things can go wrong. Leave it to the professionals,” he said, adding that too often children get burned when non-professionals attempt to do it on their own.