“Compared to Wednesday night, it’s really nice,” said festival attendee Bonnie Anderson. “It’s not humid at all. You can’t ask for more. You have to order the good weather ahead, I guess.”

Festivalgoers were enjoying temperatures in the mid to upper 70s Friday with only 37 percent humidity, following a thunderstorm that passed through the area earlier in the morning.

When festival director John Highkin arrived at Oakdale Park at 6 a.m. Friday, the ground was damp, but no preventative measures needed to be taken to prepare the area for the coming crowd.

“We didn’t have to put any woodchips down or anything,” Highkin said. “A little sunshine should dry everything out.”

The forecast looks promising for the rest of the weekend, with sunny skies on Saturday and Sunday and only a slight chance of thunderstorms Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service in Wichita.

Highkin is overjoyed that the weather appears to be cooperating for the four-day festival, especially after the devastating storms Wednesday that uprooted trees, damaged buildings and nearly destroyed the town of Chapman.

“It’s an event that matters to so many people, so it’s just our good luck that everything’s turned out so well,” he said.

For more on the Smoky Hill River Festival, see Saturday's Salina Journal

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MagicalWizard says....
"Twister, twister, here's a beer; please come back some other year." Nice to see some nice weather for the festival. See you there.
6/13/2008

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