Do you know what’s a strange time for a 4th of July fireworks show? 2:43 AM on July 5th. That’s when Philadelphia wound up setting off their display yesterday. That strange timing was caused in part by weather delays, coupled with setting things off being the safest option.

The fireworks display proceeded because the pyrotechnics had already been loaded into the launch system and could not be safely unloaded, making completion of the show the safest operational option, according to city officials.

I can believe that the best move was to set off the already-loaded fireworks, but could they perhaps have been safely held until not 2:43 in the morning? Wait a few more hours and put on some daytime fireworks. That would be both funnier and less disruptive.

But this was all precipitated by an original plan that also strikes me as bizarre. The scheduled time for the fireworks was 11:45 PM! Apparently, Philadelphia was looking to celebrate the end of July 4th. Weird.