Since its inception, the Salute to America celebration for the Fourth of July in Jefferson City has enjoyed fairly rain-free times.
While forecasts show that may not be the case this year, event organizers are keeping an optimistic attitude.
"This is Missouri, and weather can change quickly, so we hope it gets better," said festival director Jill Snodgrass. "Rain or shine, our events have to go when they are supposed to go. Events are one right after another, so we can't postpone or move them to the next day."
Forecasters with the National Weather Service in St. Louis said Thursday the likelihood of heavy rain continues to increase for Saturday and Sunday.
A cold front is expected to push across southern Missouri today. This boundary is expected to waver across the region for the remainder of the holiday weekend and be the focus for several rounds of showers and thunderstorms.
"Public safety is paramount for an event like this," Snodgrass said. "We have a huge safety team led by Cole County Emergency Management Director Bill Farr. The police department, sheriff's department, ambulance, fire departments and the county health department - every entity that you could think of public safety is involved with this event."
Steady rain likely will begin in Central Missouri on Saturday, then waves of thunderstorms with moderate to heavy rain will continue Sunday into Sunday night, before beginning to ease Monday.
Total rainfall could approach 4-6 inches along the I-70 corridor by the time the rain finally ends Monday evening, so Snodgrass said she believes the fireworks and main show will go as planned.
"We always have to deal with something related to the weather," Snodgrass said. "The heat has been a frequent problem. Two weeks ago, temperatures looked to be in the 90s or around 100. So we were making sure we had cooling stations and city buses available for people to go to get cooled off."
Forecasters said with rainfall of this magnitude there is a strong possibility of localized flooding, particularly near area rivers and streams, so travelers this holiday weekend are urged to use caution.
Snodgrass said residents should check salutetoamerica.org and the Salute to America Facebook page for updates.
"This year, we also have a free mobile app through Palaroo and can give you push notifications updating at real time information on any weather cancelations," she said.
"As far as the Outlaw Country Concert with Travis Tritt at the old Jefferson City Correctional Center site, the plan is to try to make it go at whatever time we can make it go. If there is severe weather, we can use buildings at the prison to get people inside. We still ask people not to bring umbrellas, and a list of items prohibited from being brought to the concert is on our Facebook page and on the website. The concert is a rain or shine, so we can't give refunds."
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