UPDATE: All-Star activities reopen after rain delay

WNBA All-Star Weekend organizers restarted outdoor activities at about 5 p.m. Saturday after a pause caused by rain and wind that began at about 2:30 p.m. The basketball hoops on Monument Circle were quickly busy again.

Before 2 p.m., volunteers at what’s called “Indy’s Home Court” on Monument Circle had started taking down some of the pop-up decorations and handing out free ponchos as the rain approached and the chance of thunderstorms increased.

Vendors at a market on Monument Circle also started packing up at roughly 1:45 p.m., about 15 minutes before the market was to close anyway.

Later, organizers posted a sign on a video board telling visitors that the area would be “temporarily closed.”

“We will reopen as soon as possible,” said Max Wing, a spokesman for Downtown Indy Inc., told IBJ mid-afternoon.

Jason Puma with the National Weather Service told IBJ earlier that meteorologists were tracking a line of showers and storms in western Indiana that were expected to move through the Indianapolis area through 6 p.m.

Dry weather is expected in the evening, Puma said.

Weather.com issued a “special weather statement” warning that a strong thunderstorm would impact portions of northeastern Hendricks County, northwestern Marion County, eastern Boone County and southwestern Hamilton County through 3:15 p.m. It did not specifically address downtown Indianapolis, but overall, The Weather Channel site was predicting isolated thunderstorms for the region with some risk of severe weather.

“Wind and tornadoes are possible, but wind is the greatest threat,” The Weather Channel’s site said.

Some of the All-Star activities are inside, including the ticketed WNBA Live at the Indiana Convention Center. But many of the free entertainment spaces are outside on Monument Circle and Georgia Street.

At about 11 a.m., a volunteer on Monument Circle had started handing out free, clear rain ponchos at to help fans prepare for possible rain.