the fireworks caused an 18-minute delay while the problem was troubleshooted. In 2020, Thunder Over Louisville was canceled for the first time in its history due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Kentucky Derby was postponed to September, and took place with no spectators. The following year, fireworks were launched throughout the city to reduce crowd sizes due to COVID-19 precautions. The show was televised locally, and in-person spectators were discouraged from gathering. The same year, a boat accident occurred on the Ohio River near the Greenwood Boat Docks as a large amount of spectators attempted to view the fireworks from the river. One barge collided with a boat, killing three people. Four people were rescued from the Ohio River by barge operators. Weather Due to the complexity of the event, including road closures, police presence, and technical requirements, there is no rain date for Thunder. The event has never been canceled due to weather. Officials would cancel if severe weather or lightning was imminent, and the fireworks could be delayed if heavy rain or wind was occurring at the time of the show. In 2005, unseasonably cold weather brought a temperature of 38 at 8:30 PM, an hour before the fireworks. A brief downpour of heavy sleet cleared all but an estimated 10,000 spectators from the riverfront by fireworks time. In 2011, temperatures in the 40s caused a much lower attendance than usual. Ohio River flooding was a concern for the 2015 event, but organizers did not let the high water cancel the festivities. It did make some traditional viewing areas inaccessible and additional safety precautions had to be taken to make the show possible. The warmest Thunder Over Louisville on record just happened in 2022 when Louisville hit a high of 87 degrees. TV coverage Thunder Over Louisville has been televised locally since its first year. The 2007 show was the first to be broadcast entirely in HDTV. Previously, two or three HDTV cameras supplemented the broadcast. TV coverage of the fireworks received record ratings in 2006 due to cold temperatures which made many people choose to watch the show from home. In 2005, The Kentucky Derby Festival started rotating the broadcast rights each year between 3 of the major Louisville network affiliates (WAVE-TV, WDRB, and WLKY). After airing the coverage exclusively from 1991-2003, WHAS-TV chose not to participate in the rotation for several years after this agreement was