How our numbers work

The ShoreScore 0 to 100

A number for how good the rest of today looks at this beach.

What goes in

Sun and clouds, UV, warmth, wind, waves, rain on the radar and in the forecast, water temperature, the latest water test, seaweed, red tide, and official warnings. Every beach is scored from the same live data, the same way.

In the app, every one of those readings sits in one of four groups, Weather, Water, Safety, and Comfort, so the same words mean the same things here and on the All Conditions page.

The score is about the rest of today, from now until sunset. It never counts hours that already passed, so a rainy morning cannot hide a great evening.

Which way it points

Higher is better. 100 is a perfect beach day. The word next to the number is cut from the number, nothing else, so the two always agree.

Where the cuts are

Where the data comes from

Weather, wind, waves and water temperature

Open-Meteo forecasts and marine data.

Rain right now

National Weather Service radar, read for the sky over each beach.

Warnings and rip current risk

National Weather Service alerts and surf zone forecasts.

Water tests and advisories

Florida Department of Health, Healthy Beaches program.

Red tide

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Seaweed

Our own reading, the ShoreScore Seaweed Risk Index, below.

How we keep it honest

• One number, every screen. The sky picture, the words, the score and the map all come from the same number. We run automatic checks to make sure they agree.
• Missing data is unknown, never bad. If a beach has no water test, that part just sits out. It does not drag the score down.
• A water warning never hides inside the number. A rip current risk, a swim advisory or high surf is written on the page, where you can read it.

What it is not

• Not a safety rating. Lifeguards, beach flags and official warnings come first, every time. If they say stay out, stay out, whatever the number says.
• Not tomorrow's forecast. It is about the rest of today. The 5-day card is a separate, rougher look ahead.
• Not personal. The ShoreScore is the same number for everyone. YourScore, on the You page, is your own version of the math.

The ShoreScore Seaweed Risk Index 0 to 100

A number for the risk of sargassum seaweed washing up on this beach's sand.

Which way it points

Higher means a bigger chance of seaweed. 0 is the lowest risk. 100 is the highest. The word comes from the number, nothing else.

Where the cuts are

How we keep it honest

• We checked it against real beaches. A summer of daily beach photos, each scored for how much of the sand was covered, compared with our number for that beach on that day.
• The date is always shown. The line under the number says which day the reading is from.
• Missing data is unknown, never bad. No reading means a dash, not a green zero.

What it is not

• Not a forecast. It says the risk from the newest reading. The line under the number (“Building this week”) says where it has been over the past week, not where it is going.
• Not a count. Nobody walked the beach. The number says how likely seaweed is, not how much is there. Cleanup crews and the waves move seaweed around, so the sand can look better or worse than the number.
• Not a health notice. Seaweed is a nuisance, not a hazard warning. If a county or the state posts a notice, the notice wins.
• Not always today's. The newest reading can be a day or two old. The date under the number tells you which day it is from.
• Not proven everywhere yet. We checked it on one coast for one season. Other beaches get the same math, but they have not been tested against photos.
• Not red tide. On the Gulf coast the Seaweed tile can show a red tide word instead. That comes from state water samples, not from the Seaweed Risk Index.