NAPLES, Fla. — When you imagine a vacation on Florida beaches, like Vanderbilt in Naples, you picture sunny skies and warm weather. Coming off Tuesday's thunderstorms creating dangerous rip current conditions for some Collier County beaches. FOX 4 spoke with some beachgoers to get their take on the unpredictable weather.
"Some stormy weather, some crazy rain," noted two men visiting from South Africa. A mother and her son from Minnesota expressed their surprise, saying, "We've actually never seen rain in Florida before, so that was a first for us." Another family from Toronto explained, "We got here Friday, and this is the first day we've seen sun."
After enduring the rain, beach enthusiasts finally enjoyed a picturesque Florida beach day. Groups reveled in the return of the sun, with one saying, "It's a nice day today, so be grateful for that. Enjoy the sun, play around – yeah, soaking it in."
With tomorrow being their last day in town, a mother and her son were relieved, saying, "It's nice that it's warmed up, sunny, no rain anymore."
People were taking advantage of the sunshine, as Vanderbilt beach was completely packed with people laying out and playing games together. But, even in the brief bit of nice weather, Wednesday, something else got in the way - the National Weather Service warned about high rip currents in Collier County. Some families, aware of the risks, say they made efforts to educate themselves.
"We actually watched some videos yesterday. I taught the kids about what rip tides are and how to spot them, and yeah, to just be aware of them," explained a mother.
The good news is - the rip tide risk is going down. But, the bad news is, more rain is in the forecast.
