Mother Nature showed Saturday that she still rules, even when it comes to Earth Day activities.

Heavy rain and the threat of severe weather caused the cancellation of nearly all Earth Day activities as well as a South Park Easter egg hunt, organizers said.

“It’s only supposed to get worse,” Duane Peterson, special events supervisor for Lawrence Parks and Recreation, said Saturday morning. Parks and Recreation, in conjunction with Hy-Vee stores, was sponsor of the Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza in South Park.

Shortly after midnight Friday, Douglas County got pounded by heavy rain, hail and high winds. The rain continued at varying degrees of intensity in the next several hours before pausing about noon Saturday, when there was a brief period of sunshine.

Between 10 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday, Lawrence Municipal Airport recorded a little more than an inch of rain, according to the National Weather Service in Topeka.

The worst of the storm in Lawrence occurred between midnight Friday and 1 a.m. Saturday, weather service meteorologist Matt Wolters said.

Wind gusts peaked at 45 mph at the airport and nickel-size hail fell, Wolters said. There was one report of one-inch diameter hail at Clinton Lake.

In Topeka wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph were recorded at Billard Airport, Wolters said.

Spokesmen for area law enforcement agencies and Douglas County Emergency Management said they did not have any reports of weather-related problems.

More rain was expected Saturday night and this morning, and the threat of an isolated tornado was possible in the Topeka and Lawrence areas, Wolters said.

Saturday morning’s Earth Day parade through downtown has been rescheduled for 11 a.m. next Saturday, organizers said. The afternoon Earth Day celebration also may be rescheduled.

¢ See the latest forecast

“It may have to be moved from South Park,” said Shane McCall, a Kansas University senior from Kansas City, Mo., and president of the Environmental Studies Student Assn. “It will depend on what park we can get.”

Officially, Earth Day is Tuesday.

Indoor activities in conjunction with Earth Day continued Saturday at the Prairie Park Nature Center, 2730 Harper St. Few people, however, were attending, organizers said.

Although the egg hunt also fell victim to the weather, children ages 5 to 12 who were planning to participate still had a chance to get an Eggstravaganza bag at local Hy-Vee stores. The bags, which contained candy and store coupons, were given out to the first 1,000 children who showed up asking for them, Peterson said.