Tourists are going to drive 10 miles under the speed limit everywhere they go, the yellow flies are going to drive hundreds of Cumberland Island visitors to the brink of insanity, and afternoon thunderstorms will put a damper on scores of vacations during the summer months on Georgia’s Atlantic coast, so we might as well get used to it.
Travelers could literally set their watch to the afternoon thunderstorms that roll across the eastern seaboard during the hot summer months in Saint Marys, Georgia. It’s not uncommon for the months of June, July and August to crank out triple-digit temperatures for weeks on end, causing excessive humidity to build up in the atmosphere throughout the day and holding off until the humid air simply can’t take anymore. Storms usually come to fruition anywhere from 2 p.m. to as late as 6 p.m., but most of the typical afternoon downpours that occur only last for a half an hour or so.
The problem with summertime weather reports along the coast is the fact that you can pick a day, any day, and the Weather Channel, or Weather Bug, or even your weather-watching grandpa is going to tell you that there’s a 30% chance of rain all day, every day. The reasoning for such a consistent report seems to be rather simple: the weather on the coast is unpredictable. It could be sunshine and heat rays one minute, and moments later you could be packing up the half-ton of gear that you struggled to get down to the beach and running for the car, dragging a couple of kids behind you along the way. Changes in coastal weather can happen in a flash.
For whatever reason, 30% seems to be the magic number when forecasters try to predict the weather along the coast. It seems to be a figure that says, “Hey, it’s not really that much of a chance, but if it does rain, then don’t say we never told you so.” So if you’ve just arrived in your hotel room at the start of a hard-earned vacation to your destination along the Georgia or Florida coast, and you’re bummed because the local weather station is calling for a 30% chance of storms all week, then don’t sweat it. You may have to endure a serious 30-minute downpour, but most of the time it’s just enough rain to run everyone else off the beach and back to their cars.
And then you’ve got the whole coastline all to yourself.
