Storms put damper on Lehigh Valley 4th of July fireworks

Showers and storms that were expected across the Lehigh Valley on Thursday held off for most of the day, but not long enough to keep from interrupting Fourth of July festivities and fireworks.

Scattered showers and storms began moving through the region around 8:15 p.m. Allentown cut short its official Independence Day celebration at J. Birney Crum Stadium, but announced on its Facebook page that the fireworks display would still go off at 9:15 p.m.

However, around 8:30 p.m., a livestream on the city's Facebook page showed the fireworks display going off early, a move that drew complaints from some resident in the comments.

"Fireworks had to go off earlier than planned due to weather conditions," the city announced in a later post . "We apologize for the inconvenience. Stay safe!"

Elsewhere in Allentown, the weather prompted the IronPigs to tell folks attending the Great American Blast at Coca-Cola Park to seek shelter in the concourse.The fireworks there went off around 9:15 p.m.

Over in Bethlehem, SteelStacks announced on Instagram that its festivities were being suspended due to the rain. The city's fireworks show, which was scheduled to begin around 9:15 p.m. from Sand Island, was delayed until 9:30 p.m.

"The fireworks are delayed by 15 minutes and we plan to shoot them off at 9:30PM weather permitting," a post on the city's Facebook page said.

A number of residents criticized the city for not confirming earlier that the fireworks were still on, saying they had left early due to the weather.

Dorney Park in South Whitehall Township announced that its fireworks show was on as scheduled at 9:30 p.m.

Rain was expected to linger until after 10 p.m. across most of the Lehigh Valley, according to National Weather Service radar.

Here is the extended forecast:

Thursday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly before 1am. Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 73. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Friday: Showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly after 5pm. Patchy fog before 10am. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a high near 91. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 60%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Friday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 74. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Saturday Night: A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms before 2am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Southwest wind around 5 mph becoming northwest after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 90.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 67.

Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 93.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 71.

Tuesday: A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 88. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Tuesday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Chance of precipitation is 60%.

Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Chance of precipitation is 50%.