Storm closes Washington County Fair early on Monday

WASHINGTON — Washington County Fair organizers made the call Monday afternoon to cut the day’s activities short, citing incoming severe weather. The fair board announced early in the afternoon that it advised everyone to exit the grounds by 5 p.m., and had canceled or rescheduled all events after 4 p.m.

The year’s goat show started 45 minutes early to accommodate the adapted schedule, with exhibitors and judges rushing through the last several drives and eventually leaving the fairgrounds around 6 p.m. Heavy rainfall also delayed the fair’s horse and pony show planned for the following morning, after it left the arena muddy and unsuitable for exhibiting animals.

Washington County Fair Board President Kurt Dallmeyer said the National Weather Service warned those on a conference call Monday of severe storms.

“They're not really sure until it develops, but all the models show that we are going to be in the path of this system when it develops,” Dallmeyer said. “So we feel it's best to cancel our evening entertainment.”

The NWS Quad Cities office, which covers Washington County, wrote in a weather story posted Monday afternoon that damaging winds, tornadoes and periods of “very heavy rainfall” and “very low visibility” could be hazards of the “fast-moving” storm. A severe thunderstorm watch was issued Monday afternoon until 11 p.m. for 65 counties in Iowa, including Washington.

An Iowa Environmental Mesonet data station at the Washington Municipal Airport reported gusts upward of 40 mph around 7 p.m., but other communities in the storm’s path clocked speeds approaching 60 mph as nearby as Danville, and 74 mph in Davenport according to the NWS.

“We hate to have to do this, but for our public safety and the safety of all the fair people, we feel this is the best decision at this time, and we will try to make lemonade out of lemons after tonight, and hope that the rest of the week will be a banner week for us,” Dallmeyer said.

For Sarah Pross, making lemonade out of lemons was no metaphor.

Pross, the owner of Sweet Fun Concessions which sells a variety of treats including lemonade, packed up the stand as much as possible Monday to brace for the incoming wind and rain.

“We stay here and cross our fingers,” Pross said. “We've been through many a storm in our life, of late. We've been through a derecho before (and) several tornadoes.”

Vendors weren’t the only ones scrambling to react Monday afternoon. Entertainers started packing up supplies soon after the severe weather announcement was made.

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Dewayne Reynolds, host of the Doc Magic Variety Show near the center of the fairgrounds, did his show at 1 p.m., and called off other performances planned for 7:15 and 8:15 p.m. He spent the afternoon moving every prop and set piece into a trailer, unless it was extremely heavy or staked into the ground.

“I appreciate their precaution,” Reynolds said. “There are some places that take more of a wait and see (approach) but when you’re talking about winds like this, we need time to get everything packed away.”

The adjusted schedule also led to cancellations and reschedules for various contests, including the tall corn contest, pie-eating contest, and a tractor pull at the grandstands, all previously scheduled for Monday night.

The weather concerned a number of 4-H’ers staying in campers on the grounds during the week. Most left their RVs on the site but headed home for the storm, leaving their animals behind in barns, under the watch of fair volunteers who stayed on the property through the harsh weather.

Rachel Longbine’s family has been camping in their RV at the Washington County Fair for 14 years, but she said they had, “never experienced anything like this.”

“I highly worry about my animals, but as long as everybody's safe, I guess that's all that matters,” said Longbine, whose family is showing livestock at the fair.

Makenzie Flynn, another camper whose oldest daughter is showing sheep as a 4-H’er for the first time this summer, said driving an RV out of the storm’s path and bringing it back would be impractical given the number of campers parked on the grounds.

“I guess that's why we have insurance, if something happens, it happens, and (we) take that risk,” Flynn said.

Minimal excessive heat impacts

In addition to the severe thunderstorm watch, a heat advisory was in effect until 8 p.m. with heat indexes from “100 to around 110 degrees expected,” according to the advisory issued by the NWS Quad Cities. But Dallmeyer said the heat “really doesn’t have anything to do” with the decision to shorten the fair’s Monday schedule.

Washington County 4-H and Youth Coordinator Amy Green said every barn was working hard to have fans in place, and said adults were reminding kids showing animals to provide them with water, as they do every year.

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“You know, bless their hearts, kids don't even know anything's going on,” Green said. “They're just having fun at the fair, like, you're always hot and you're always dirty. So the kids are just here enjoying the fair.”

Both Dallmeyer and Green said they did not anticipate any type of severe weather impacts on the remainder of the fair, which runs through Friday.

“After tonight, it looks like our weather makes a big flip,” Dallmeyer said. “Looks like temperatures are going to be reduced, and humidity should go down, and it should be a great week the rest of the fair after we get through tonight.”

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