FAYETTEVILLE -- Nature could supply some of its own fireworks this weekend as thunderstorms move through the area, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service on Wednesday afternoon was predicting a 50 percent chance for storms throughout Northwest Arkansas from today through Sunday, with highs in the 80s. Any rain should fall intermittently, instead of all day, from relatively isolated clumps of storm clouds, weather service meteorologist Pete Snyder said.
Independence Day events
Friday
• Uptown Fayetteville Freedom Fireworks at the Northwest Arkansas Mall: Music and other activities start at 7 p.m., with the fireworks set for about 9:25 p.m. If it’s pushed to Sunday, the time would stay the same.
Saturday
• July 4th Fireworks Spectacular at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers: Gates open at 6 p.m., and the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas will start playing at 8 p.m. Fireworks are at dusk.
• An Evening at Orchards Park in Bentonville: Music by Kaylee Rutland and the Arkansas Winds starts at 7 p.m., with fireworks at 9:30 p.m. If pushed to Sunday, the schedule would remain the same; if the concert is canceled but the fireworks go on, the concert won’t be rescheduled.
Source: Staff report
"It's a slow-moving front, which is why it's going to continue through the period," Snyder said from the service's Tulsa office, adding that some places will get more rain than others and it's difficult to predict exactly where. "Highest chances look like right through the Fourth of July."
That could be bad news for outdoor events planned for the weekend, including Uptown Fayetteville Freedom Fireworks at the Northwest Arkansas Mall on Friday and the July 4th Fireworks Spectacular at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in Rogers. Bentonville's Orchards Park will also host a July 4 show.
Both the mall and Bentonville would postpone their fireworks to Sunday evening if Friday gets too wet, organizers said. Bentonville's event includes a concert by Kaylee Rutland and the Arkansas Winds starting at 7 p.m., which could also be moved to Sunday if needed, said Josh Stacey, Bentonville recreation supervisor. The Rogers show has no back-up date.
"If we have to cancel music but still shoot fireworks, that's what we'll do," Stacey said, adding the city might bump its firework show a little early if there's a window in the clouds. "It's going to be a kind of minute to minute, hour by hour thing."
The mall expects to decide about 8:30 p.m., said Cindy Raleigh, office manager.
The shows will go on even with some rain, organizers agreed -- only lightning or heavy rain will quash them. It they decide to cancel, the news will be blasted through Facebook, Twitter and their respective websites.
"Otherwise, rain or shine, it will go on," said Erin Rogers, Walmart AMP spokeswoman. The show includes an 8 p.m. concert by the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, with $5 lawn tickets for an adult and up to four children, or $10 tickets per person in the covered area. The concert could be temporarily delayed for weather instead of canceled, Rogers said. The music pavilion doesn't offer refunds.
Rainy weather chances are expected to decrease Monday before clearing out Tuesday, Snyder said.
The storms should approach from the northwest, propelled by the same jet stream that brought hazy skies Tuesday, said Chuck Hodges, another meteorologist at the Tulsa, Okla., office.
Hundreds of wildfires in western Canada are giving off smoke that this week streamed through the Midwest as far south as Arkansas and Tennessee, according to the weather service. The plume curved along a deep curve of the jetstream, which could be curvier more often because of a warming climate or other factors, according to research this year by scientists at Rutgers University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Northwest Arkansas' skies Tuesday were largely cloudless, but a milky white haze dimmed the sun slightly even around the lunch hour. The fires were still burning Wednesday, according to The Weather Network in Ontario and other Canadian media. The haze had largely dissipated in this area by Wednesday, Hodges said.
"Strong upper-level winds were set up just the right way coming out of the northwest," he said.
Dan Holtmeyer can be reached at dholtmeyer@nwadg.com and on Twitter @NWADanH.
NW News on 07/02/2015