Rain postpones United Way of Kearney’s fireworks show until Thursday night

KEARNEY, Neb. — One of Kearney’s premier fireworks shows will happen on Thursday night after a rain postponement.

Heavy rain forced the United Way of the Kearney Area to end its Freedom Fest early on Wednesday night. In a Facebook video, executive director Savannah Lyon said the Axtell Fire Department will start the fireworks show at 10:00 p.m. on Thursday at the Viaero Center. There won’t be any vendors on site and, as of Thursday morning, the group didn’t have a plan for if it would charge for parking or not.

The United Way fireworks will light off on the south edge of Kearney at the same time as the Kearney Country Club fireworks in the central part of the city. The country club is allowing members and guests onto its property to watch the show and encourages others to watch from surrounding areas.

The Kearney Municipal Airport reported 1.09 inches of rain on Wednesday night. The storm caused minor flooding in some Kearney streets and contributed to a small power outage south of UNK’s campus.

Forecasters expect a dry afternoon and evening on Thursday. Wind speeds in Kearney are expected to hit 25 mph in the middle of the day but are predicted to drop to 12 mph by 10:00 p.m.