Jersey Shore visitors get a soggy start to summer’s unofficial opening weekend
Meteorologists advised conditions would likely stay rainy and windy through Memorial Day.
Summer may be around the corner, but there was no sun to kick off Memorial Day weekend in Philadelphia or down the Jersey Shore.
In Wildwood on Saturday, whipping winds and chilling drizzle deterred the usual Philly shorebirds who normally flock to the boardwalk’s unofficial opening weekend. Between the National Weather Service warning of hazardous coastal conditions, a high surf advisory in place, and temperatures expected at a high of 59 and a low of 56 degrees, few ventured onto the beaches.
Tourists, in sweatshirts and rain jackets, took shelter from the 35-mph gusts under souvenir shop awnings and inside arcades, as the bleak weather report blasted from the overhead radios. Some, perhaps aspirationally, still wore flip-flops and shorts.
It was rough seas for first-time Shore visitor Chantelle Pfefferle. The 46-year-old from Easton, Pa., nearly forewent her three-hour drive after seeing the weather but could not cancel her accommodations.
“It’s not going to be a good [Memorial Day weekend], but what are you going to do?” she remarked, lamenting that she could not go in the ocean.
With the weather service expecting thunderstorms after 1 p.m., Pfefferle recommended people “stay home and stay warm.”
“We’re trying to make the best of it — walk the boardwalk, get to the hotel, and hope for sun,” she said.
New Jerseyans Laura and Jon Farnon, both 34, were at the Shore for their annual family trip. It was the Phillipsburg couple’s first vacation with their 6-month-old daughter, Judith. After scouting the bleak forecast, Laura Farnon rummaged Amazon for baby rain clothes.
Despite the lack of sun and beach fun, Judith appeared to enjoy her cold and dreary stroll on the boardwalk, her parents said.
“We’re trying to be hopeful for the weather changing,” Laura Farnon said, “but it doesn’t look like it.”
Jon Farnon advised: “Don’t come if you’re expecting a warm, sunny day to be at the beach — it’s not happening.”
It didn’t seem likely things would turn around in the next day, either.
Sunday will bring temperatures ranging from the high 70s down to the low 60s, with showers expected before 2 p.m. and a 80% chance of thunderstorms coming at 8 p.m., according to the weather service.
And for Memorial Day, the beach will be mostly cloudy with as much as a tenth to a quarter inch of rain by nighttime, and temperatures ranging from a high of 72 degrees to a low of 59.
Staying behind in Philly may not save you from the gloomy conditions. Memorial Day is expected to bring higher temperatures, between 61 and 76 degrees, and a 50% chance of rain by Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service.
