With spotty forecast expected, festivalgoers urged to monitor conditions for safe weekend
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- This weekend, Summerfest fans should keep a close eye on the skies, and the radar. Possible storm chances could have a major impact on outdoor festivals throughout the weekend.
Plenty of people came prepared Friday night, June 21, either because they've been rained out before or because they know it's better to be weather ready.
Logan Steichen came in from Madison. He told us, "Oh, we were driving up in the rain, heavy rain."
Steichen did not want to get rained out Friday night because he had big plans to see Mötley Crüe at Summerfest.
So, on the drive in, he made a pit stop for a rain jacket, saying, "We just stopped and got it. We stopped to get a poncho."
He was one of several people who planned ahead before heading out, like Mike and Rachel Ganos.
Mike said, "We just saw that there was mixed movement with the weather. And I'm a concrete contractor so I have to watch the weather myself."
They did exactly what everyone should do, according to meteorologist and lightning expert Chris Vagasky: check the radar and keep checking it at your event.
Vagasky works at the National Lightning Safety Council studying how outdoor events are impacted by dangerous weather.
He told us, "That could potentially be a recipe for disaster if you get a storm moving through with a lot of lightning."
Vagasky says there are no safe spots outdoors, only enclosed buildings or enclosed metal vehicles.
Every year in the US, about 20 people are killed by lightning, and another 200 are injured.
Vagasky, and others in his field, are trying to prevent as many as possible. He said, "We're really a little bit nervous about is that one of these days, and we've been really lucky so far, but one of these days you're going to have a mass casualty lightning event."
Many weather apps, like the CBS 58 Ready Weather app, allow users to track lightning strikes.
So much like rain on the radar, everyone can monitor potentially dangerous conditions during their events, not just before.
Steichen told us, "Figured, better safe than sorry."
And Ganos said, "Because I brought this [jacket], I won't get rained on."