Beach Count

How to read it

Tan score

Dry hours with UV 3 or more between 9 am and 6 pm, scaled by warmth, rain and wind. A rule of thumb, not a measurement.

Beach weather

How much the day's weather draws people to the beach, learned from nine summers of NYC lifeguard counts.

Crowd

Quiet, normal, busy or packed for that beach, from weather and the calendar. NYC Parks beaches also show the expected count on NYC Parks' own scale. Long Island and Jacob Riis borrow the NYC model.

UV

UV 3 and up: sunscreen, hat and shade around midday. UV 8 and up: extra protection, burns come fast (WHO guidance).