SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The vendors at the Minnesota State Fair are well aware that when a fair runs for 12 days, odds are they're going to see some bad weather.
"It's an inevitability. It happens every year,” vendor Dustin Soderman says.
And when you sell rain gauges at the fair like Laurie and Dustin Soderman, a little rain is actually good for business.
"We had five inches of water, so all of the rain gauges were filled. So, I said to everybody, they work!" Laurie said.
But a lot of rain and wind? Not so great, especially when almost everything you sell is breakable.
The Sodermans’ booth is filled with glass and ceramic lawn ornaments and garden trinkets.
“When something breaks you just pick it up and throw it away and keep going,” Laurie says. “It’s just part of being at the fair.”
So far, Laurie says they've only lost a few things here and there, but the biggest problem was the rain breaking off hundreds of their price tags.
"We have over 10,000 inventory items in this booth. If we lose these inventory tags these guys go 'Mom, what's this!' I'm like 'I don't know!'” Laurie laughs.
And they're not the only vendor at the fair dealing with rain this week.
"27 years, I've seen it all. Flood, heat, hail, winds, storms, everything,” Butterfly House owner David Bohlken says.
"We can do our plan in about three minutes. We can shut this entire exhibit down.”
Bohlken says their weather safety plan is designed to protect the butterflies, staff and every fair visitor who stops by their booth
He says the most important safety feature is the large garage doors that can seal up his booth and protect it from heavy rain and wind.
"These garage doors are from the 1950's. They're solid wood. When they come down, you can smack baseballs against them. Nothing is going to get inside,” Bohlken says.
Most of the buildings and booths at the Minnesota State Fair are specially designed to keep out the rain.
Vendors say it usually rains at least once during the fair, but it rarely rains several days in a row like it has this year.