State Fair to close early due to threat of severe weather

The New York State Fair is closing early on Wednesday due to the potential for severe weather in the evening.

Organizers made the decision to close the fair at 6 p.m. on Wednesday after heavy rains caused some flooding at the fairgrounds. Entry was set to end at 5:15 p.m.

It was the second time where fair officials had to make the decision to close on Wednesday.

Late morning flooding prompted a shelter-in-place order, which has since been lifted.

Officials say they had some tents go down, but there were not reports of lasting damages.

According to the fair’s director, Julie LaFave, a multi-phase drainage project is underway, and they’re asking everyone to sign up for the fair’s emergency alerts.

“We are very well aware that water goes to the West End; it doesn’t drain quick enough,” LaFave said. “It is draining quicker from year to year. What we saw today was a lot of rain in a very short period of time. That project will start as soon as the fair ends and hopefully next year if we see this again it will drain even faster.”

Tori Kelly’s concert is slated to begin at 5 p.m. at Suburban Park.

Regular operating hours for the State Fair are 9 a.m.-11 p.m.