THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, May 28, 1996 TAG: 9605280057
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: 49 lines
Gray, cool weather cast a shroud over what is usually one of the busiest and most profitable times of the year for Virginia Beach Oceanfront businesses - the long Memorial Day weekend.
Instead of staying through Monday's holiday, many guests took the disappointing weather as a cue to head out early, said Curtis Henson, a desk clerk at the Stargate Oceanfront Suites motel.
``Last year we were pretty much booked the whole Memorial Day weekend,'' he said, ``and this year we've had people leave because of the weather. It's been pretty hard on us.''
The highest temperatures during the three-day weekend never made it out of the 60s. The normal high for this time of year is 78 degrees, said Tony Siebers of the National Weather Service office in Wakefield.
The resort city also got one-tenth of an inch of rain Saturday, a trace Sunday, and 0.14 inch by Monday afternoon.
Jeff Von Blon, general manager of the Quality Inn Oceanfront, said the poor weather hurt business.
``A lot of people have tried to cancel their reservations or checked out early because of the weather,'' Von Blon said. ``It's probably about 30 to 40 percent off as compared to last year on Memorial Day weekend.''
Charles Graves, manager of the Raven, an Oceanfront restaurant, said traffic was far below normal levels for the May holiday weekend.
``Business is way off from last year. The past three years have been strong Memorial Days, but this one has been way less than normal,'' Graves said.
``The roads were blocked for a while,'' he said. ``From about 12 to 3 o'clock (Sunday) it was bumper-to-bumper outbound. I guess it was just after checkout.''
The early exodus apparently meant lighter-than-usual traffic on Memorial Day, when beachgoers usually clog roads as they make their way back home. Officials at the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel reported moderate traffic at 2:40 p.m. Monday. ILLUSTRATION: VICKI CRONIS
The Virginian-Pilot
Steve Fose wears his sons' towels against the cold as the hardy
youngsters from Rochester, N.Y., romp in the Beach surf Monday
before heading home early.
KEYWORDS: MEMORIAL DAY WEATHER by CNB