New England sulking over soggy May

By Beverley Wang

updated 11:13 a.m. ET May 26, 2005

HAMPTON, N.H. - All she wanted was something to eat — maybe a hot dog and fries followed by a piece of salt water taffy for dessert.

But Michele Olsen got nothing. Shrouded in a blue parka, she let out a squawk as she spotted the “closed” sign on a beach-front snack stand.

“We just want something to eat,” she said before rushing back to her car. “There’s nothing open here.”

A nor’easter pounded Hampton Beach this week, turning the summer playground’s honky-tonk strip into a ghost town with sand and foam blowing down the empty street.

Signs advertising fried dough pointed to shuttered stands. Almost every hot dog, fried clam, ice cream and taffy shop on the beach remained closed in one of the dreariest recorded run-ups to New England’s summer tourist season.

Wetter, cooler May
More than 4 inches of rain have fallen this month in Portland, Maine, with more than 2 inches in Concord, N.H., exceeding normal amounts. Average temperatures this month were about 5 degrees below normal in both places, according to the National Weather Service. Burlington, Vt.’s Memorial Day forecast called for a 40 percent chance of rain with a high of 70.

Steven Senne / AP New England's weather woes include high winds. Jeanine Troisi, of Lynn, Mass., tries to maintain control of her umbrella while struggling in Boston on Tuesday.

Stormy weather also was being blamed for a massive bloom of toxic red tide along much of New England’s coast, closing shellfish beds. It seemed the only people pleased with the weather were surfers, who donned hooded wet suits to catch waves churned up by the wind.

“We know there’s potential of getting surf, that’s the only reason we enjoy crappy weather,” said Hampton surfer Steve Rafferty, 24.

No coastal flooding was expected Thursday, but Massachusetts beaches were pounded overnight. Waves reached a height of 17.4 feet at Boston Buoy, about 16 miles off the coast, according to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

Several boats were beached by waves in Quincy, Mass., and temperatures were forecast in the low 50s for Thursday.

The National Weather service posted hazardous weather, wind and flood watches for Maine and New Hampshire and predicted little chance of sunshine for Northern New England during the Memorial Day weekend.

High temperatures for Memorial Day were not expected hit much higher than 70 in the three states, close to normal for this time of year. But a month of overcast, wet weekends brought on by lingering low pressure has few people thinking good thoughts about vacations, and businesses dependent on tourists’ cash are on notice.

“I think it’s going to put the whole summer behind,” said Robert Preston, whose family real estate company specializes in beach rentals in Seabrook and Hampton.

Few phone calls
Repeat vacationers aren’t likely to cancel their plans, but he predicted business would see fewer daytrippers and spur-of-the-moment tourists.

“If the weather was nice the phone would have started ringing this week, but we’re just not getting it,” he said. “If the sun comes up, we’ll catch up real fast.”

Plenty of rooms are available in the Kennebunkport, Maine, area with the wet and cold weather putting a damper on the number of tourists expected for the Memorial Day weekend, said Dick Leeman, president and CEO of the Kennebunk/Kennebunkport Chamber of Commerce.

Bookings are running about the same as last year at this time, he said, when the weather was also cold and wet. But he said the outlook for tourism-related businesses is good for July and August, the peak tourist months.

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