Fourth of July can usually be counted as a day of booming business and thousands of visitors for towns along the Jersey shore, but Mother Nature is interrupting this year in the form of rain, thunderstorms and wind.

yellow umbrella in rain
Alexey Klementiev, ThinkStock
loading...

Leaders at the shore aren't pleased with the fact that so many "automatic" tourist dollars won't be coming their way due to Hurricane Arthur which is expected to bring heavy rain, winds and rough surf Thursday and Friday.

Still, they're banking on a solid weekend overall.

"If it's not a beach day, it's certainly a boardwalk day," said Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano, adding that both Saturday and Sunday should feature great weather for a visit to the shore.

The city has already suspended its July 4th fireworks display until Saturday night. Even if the rain stops in time for late Friday, wind could still be a strong factor.

Troiano said the day-trippers will be the ones who are most turned off by the poor weather conditions. Folks with hotel reservations are still likely to make the trip and stick it out until blue skies return.

"These hotels that are around do have facilities to keep people occupied and busy," Troiano added.

The Patriotic Bike Parade, scheduled for Friday morning, may need to get axed in Seaside Park, where the event has become a tradition for more and more families each year.

"If you have some rain, we'll do it," said Seaside Park Borough Administrator Bob Martucci. "If you have lightning and thunder, then that becomes a public safety issue and we won't have it."

Martucci expressed hope that the weather clears up by later Friday, but if not, they've dealt with worse.

"We're used to being resilient now," he said. "After you get a one-two punch of a hurricane and fire, you learn to pick yourself back up real fast."

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM