VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — The next time event or festival-goers are out and about enjoying the sights, sounds, the Boardwalk or Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach, they might see a new piece of technology around the city known as the Perry Weather Monitoring Station.
According to the City of Virginia Beach website, it is the first city in Hampton Roads to invest in several of these stations to track real-time weather conditions and alert emergency management officials when severe weather threatens the area.
Last year, while concert-goers were lining up for the Something in the Water Festival, the Oceanfront was placed under a tornado warning, with a tornado striking just miles away. This prompted the city to look for additional ways to get weather information.
Andy Booden, the Disaster Response and Recover Project Manager for Virginia Beach, said the system proved valuable at the Neptune Festival at the end of September as remnants of Hurricane Helene approached Hampton Roads.
"We knew storms would roll in on Friday. Everyone was worried about their tents, artwork and all that stuff," Booden recalled. "So I had Perry deployed at 14th Street, so we knew exactly what the wind direction and speed were, what the gusts were, and we relayed that to all the vendors."
And it's not just winds that should concern people. Lightning can also be extremely dangerous.
According to officials, the Perry Weather System can alert them when a lightning strike is 10 miles away – and that's important. Over the last decade, the United States has averaged 27 lightning fatalities per year, and lightning can travel up to 12 miles from a thunderstorm. That's why Virginia Beach has invested in this technology.
"With all the planning, we know about the stuff that we can control," Booden said, "but weather is the big thing, that’s why we have a system like the Perry Weather System."
And for the people wondering about the large googly eyes on the weather station, Booden said they had a contest at a local Home School Expo, and the station was given a name based on suggestions from students.
The winning name: Sir Perrywinkle Vanderstorm.