WAUKESHA - It was shortly before four Wednesday afternoon when an ominous warning was broadcast across the fairgrounds.

“There has been a thunderstorm warning issued for Waukesha County,” the slightly over-modulated voice said. “Please seek shelter immediately.”

Just like that, fairgoers began running for cover. Parents yelled for children as they pushed their strollers, jogging at first and finally sprinting as gusts of unforgiving wind filled tents. It wasn’t long before those tents were either stripped bare or were tumbling down the midway.

Julie McGowan was creating a Henna tattoo when the storm hit.

“I had a client in here,” she said excitedly. “The gust of wind came up and blew the tent down on her. I had to give her money back," McGowan chuckled.

Though meteorologists would later describe the sudden winds as the result of a “gust front,” many on the fairgrounds thought a tornado might be imminent.

“I was totally petrified,” Brett Allen confessed after the threat had passed.

Though many tents were toppled and many hearts jumpstarted, there were no injuries at the fairgrounds. The sudden gusts served only as a reminder of nature’s sudden and awesome fury.