Do I See 30's

Are my eyes deceiving me? A high on Friday of 56 degrees, a low of 36??? Of course this is in Orlando so it will be a tad balmier here at the beach but come on...it is getting cold. My son might have to break out the pants to wear to school. For more fun weather information check out Channel 6's new Just Weather. If you stick in your zip code at the top you get all sorts of interesting weather stuff about your town. Just for fun, I put in my hometown, the current temperature there is 18 degrees!! Guess I better quit whining!

What??

This is the temps for Orlando today, it is 59 right now here at the beach, I think we have a wind chill of about -10 degrees. Ok so this may seem like a heat wave to some of my readers in the frozen tundra of Tennessee or North Carolina but I am wearing socks...it is cold here.

Check out our deserted beach. At least you can listen to the ocean even if it is too cold to go near it.

Happy Monday

Greeetings and Happy Monday to all.

The Battle of the Badges fishing tournament and event raised well over $100,000 this weekend. Great news for the youth it supports. Nice article about it here, if you read down on the comments you can get differing opinions on it, personally I think the whiners should be quiet and be glad someone is doing something to benefit our youth, they need all the help they can get.

The surf was high at the beach, windy and big waves, not all the lifeguard towers are manned this time of year so be sure to swim near a staffed tower.

The Gallery Walk and Jazz Fest is this week, stay tuned for more on that later in the week.

Are You Ready

This may or may not come our way, if so be ready, if you live in the storm surge area you will be asked to leave. That would be all of us that are beachside. Here is some good information from Volusia County on evacuations. Check out storm tips for other good information on everything from protecting your home to protecting your pets.

Wordless Wednesday-Tropical Storm Fay

This would be low tide today at 15th Street in New Smyrna Beach.

This Is A Lifeguard

This big red chair with a person in it and a flag on top is a lifeguard. Volusia County has alot of these. You can actually stand at one lifeguard and see the next one down the beach. There is a lifeguard at every beach approach and then some. They are there to protect you from all sorts of things, rip currents, drowning, all forms of sea life that may bite you...and lightning.

Let's talk about lightning for a minute. We have lots of it here. You can usually see a storm coming from pretty far away.

So...if you are in the water and there are large black clouds with lightning shooting out of them, this is your first clue to get out of the water. It is not safe. If that is not a sufficent reason to vacate the water then the person standing on top of the big red stand waving the flag and blowing the whistle at you should give it away.

They are not waving at you to annoy you, they are not waving at you to say Hi, they are waving at you to save your life. So stay safe and get out of the water.

You have other beach choices if you do not want to obey the authority of our Volusia County Lifeguards. Head to Brevard County...where they have less than half the lifeguards that we have in Volusia. You can stay in the water in a thunderstorm all day if you want to.....

This is what is left of Lake Delton, the actual lake is gone. I find that to be amazing. (Tribune photo by E. Jason Wambsgans / June 10, 2008)



If you have seen any news you have seen this house falling in the lake and washing away, I imagine watching that happen is like watching tv and seeing your house burn in a forest fire. (Tribune photo by E. Jason Wambsgans / June 10, 2008



This one makes me sad. Fish are struggling to survive this nasty mess that Mother Nature has created. (Tribune photo by E. Jason Wambsgans / June 10, 2008)





The Chicago Tribune has many more photos that tell the story.

You can read the whole story here.

Here in New Smyrna Beach and in most other states in the south we NEED the rain desperately, and it won't stop in areas where they are literally drowning in it. It has to make you wonder....