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Utah Pride Festival reopens after severe weather

The event shut down temporarily due to a thunderstorm in the Salt Lake City area.

(Salt Lake Police Department) The Utah Pride Center delayed the festival as a storm bore down on Salt Lake City.

Utah’s annual Pride Festival reopened to the public shortly after it was evacuated due to severe weather.

The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Salt Lake City, Millcreek and Taylorsville until 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, with hail and a tornado possible. Organizers allowed vendors to return at around 2:40 p.m. Saturday, and the public was let in around 4:30 p.m.

Utah Pride Center special events manager Zeb Williams said officials were waiting for the lightning strikes to be eight miles from the event to get the festival starting again. The Utah Pride Festival runs from June 1 to June 4.

The chance of showers and thunderstorms is expected to continue through the evening, with a 20 percent chance of thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon. The weather is expected to clear up Sunday evening, according to a forecast from the service.