VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — After making its way up the coast, Idalia reared its ugly head as strong winds, rain, and high winds hit the Virginia Beach Oceanfront on Thursday.
10 On Your Side’s Super Doppler team said winds in the area reached 35 to 45 mph, with the weather coming as a shock and disappointment to many people, including George Owens, who came down from Philadelphia to the Resort City for a fishing trip, a trip that got canceled.
“We got here Sunday, and everything was fine,” he said. “And then Monday morning, we woke up and it was raining.”
The weather eased up after that, but it turned out that just brought Owens some false hope. As he looked at Thursday’s weather, all he could do was laugh.
“I mean it was crazy,” he said. “We woke up around this morning, I woke up around 3 o’clock hearing all this wind, but we expected it because we were told but not like this, not like this.”
Although the weather derailed his original plans, he chose to keep a positive outlook.
“It put a little damper on things but like I said, overall, we had fun, we enjoyed it, so we’re definitely coming back,” Owens said.
However, first, he said he and his family have got to do some weather research.
“But this time we’re going to do our homework as far as catching up on the weather, seeing exactly how it’s going to be so we can preplan,” he said.
Super Doppler 10 meteorologists said the rip current risk will continue through the weekend, with expected high risk for those rip currents.
The city of Virginia Beach, along with the U.S. Coast Guard issued a warning for life-threatening rip currents in the area through Labor Day weekend.
They said being in the water is dangerous for everyone, even the strongest of swimmers.
“Think twice before you go in the water this weekend,” said Capt. Jennifer Stockwell of the U.S. Coast Guard in a statement, “whether surfing, kiteboarding or boating, and if you do, monitor trusted weather sources, know your limits, and plan for emergencies.”
