Weeds wind and lightning

Its been three weeks since I have been sailing. As I was crossing the causeway I didn't see any sails on the water and when I got to the parking lot Art was sitting in his van with all his gear stowed..... not a good sign. A storm was building to the SW, our only chance for wind. Art measured the wind at 3 - 5. Dino showed up and Ron T was on his way. After 20 minutes or so the wind started to show signs of life so I rigged a 10.5 on the formula board. Art was heading out on his 7.5 and the wind was starting to fill in. In short order I wished I had rigged the 8.5 but I figured it wouldn't last long. It ended up blowing for a couple of hours. At times the lightning was on two sides of us and their were big patches of weeds near the channel.