Better pack an umbrella if you're going Downtown Friday for Red, White & Boom.

Hit-and-miss showers are possible throughout Friday evening.

It's not a foregone conclusion, however, that rain and thunderstorms will impact the July 4 holiday festivities, which are being held for the first time since 2019.

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There's a chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 5 p.m., according to the National Weather Service. Chance of precipitation is 30 percent.

By Friday night, that chance of precipitation rises to 60 percent, and showers and thunderstorms are likely between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. Columbus could get anywhere from a tenth- to a quarter-inch of rain.

"It's still hard to tell whether thunderstorms will actually affect that site," Steve Hrebenach, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, said Thursday afternoon. "What typically happens in summertime is that you get thunderstorms maybe in one area and not the other.

"It's just one of those things we'll have to watch."

Red, White & Boom is an all-day affair, and in the past has drawn hundreds of thousands of people downtown. 

The fun begins with the Boom! Street Festival at 11 a.m. on Civic Center Drive and Long Street, followed by live music and a parade. The extravaganza is capped off by a fireworks show at Genoa Park, beginning at 10 p.m.

Monroe Trombly covers breaking and trending news.