Council cancels July 4 parade over severe-weather risk; entertainment and fireworks to proceed

City emergency management and public-safety officials told the Tavares City Council on July 2 that the July 4 parade would be canceled because of a high probability of severe weather, but the city intends to hold the scheduled evening entertainment and the fireworks display.

Mark O’Keefe, the city’s emergency management director, said National Weather Service forecasts indicated an approximately 80% chance of rain with heavy accumulations and ground-to-cloud lightning during the daytime hours when the parade would have occurred. O’Keefe said police, fire and emergency operations leadership evaluated the forecast and recommended canceling the parade due to lightning risk; rain alone would not have canceled events, he said, but the lightning probability posed a public-safety concern.

O’Keefe and the chiefs said evening weather conditions were expected to improve, with precipitation chances dropping to roughly 30% by 6 p.m., when entertainment begins. City staff said the emergency operations center will be staffed for the event, and police and fire officials said they agreed with the recommendation.

Council members and staff encouraged attendees to bring umbrellas and chairs; no formal vote was required because the decision was an operational safety determination by staff and first responders, and the council received the report during new business. City staff said they would issue public messaging to cancel the parade and confirm that entertainment and fireworks would proceed as scheduled beginning at 6 p.m., with fireworks to follow at 9 p.m.