Florida Beach Conditions Today
Pick a Florida beach: the National Weather Service’s beach warnings, the sea temperature, red tide in the last 8 days and today’s sunrise and sunset, each from the agency that measures it.
Clearwater Beach · today
Loading today’s conditionsWarnings from the National Weather Service, water from NOAA, red tide from FWC.
- No warning is not a promise of calm water: rip currents can form at any beach, so swim near a lifeguard.
Quick answer: pick a Florida beach above for today’s conditions from the agencies that measure them: the National Weather Service’s rip current, surf and coastal statements for that stretch of coast, the sea temperature at the nearest NOAA station, red tide in FWC’s samples of the last 8 days, and today’s sunrise and sunset.
How to use it
Choose one of 20 beaches on the Atlantic coast, the Keys, the Gulf coast and the Panhandle, or let the tool find the one nearest you (your location stays on your device). Each answer says where it came from, how far away it was measured and how old it is: a NOAA station 19 miles up the coast is not the water at your feet, and the tool says so.
Where each answer comes from
| What | From | How the tool uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Beach warnings | National Weather Service | Every rip current, beach hazards, high surf, coastal flood or tropical statement issued for the beach’s forecast zone, most important first |
| Water temperature | NOAA Tides & Currents | The nearest station that reported, and how far away it is; none within 50 miles is said plainly |
| Red tide | FWC-FWRI Harmful Algal Bloom Database | Samples within 15 miles in the last 8 days, in FWC’s own categories; none taken is “not sampled”, never “clear” |
| Sunrise and sunset | NOAA’s solar equations | Worked out for the beach, in its own time zone (the western Panhandle keeps Central time) |
FWC exports its samples once a day, at 4:45 p.m. Eastern, and calls them preliminary: they are checked again after they are published.
Rip currents
The National Weather Service issues a Rip Current Statement when the risk is high, zone by zone. No statement is not a promise of calm water: rip currents can form at any beach, on any day, so swim near a lifeguard and read the flags on the stand.
Plan the beach day
Florida’s most challenging beaches · which Florida beach is safest from sharks · can you swim in the ocean on Sanibel? · why the Keys have so few beaches · and for the season as a whole, hurricane season by destination.
FAQ
What is the water temperature in Florida today?
It depends on the coast: pick a beach above for the latest reading at the nearest NOAA station, with how far away it is and when it was read. The Keys and the southern Gulf are usually the warmest.
Is there red tide in Florida right now?
Pick a beach above: the tool reads FWC’s samples of the last 8 days within 15 miles of it and shows the highest category found, in FWC’s own words. Where FWC took no samples nearby it says “not sampled”, which is not the same as clear.
What does a rip current statement mean?
It is the National Weather Service warning that the rip current risk along that stretch of coast is high. When one is in effect the tool shows it first, with the time it ends.
How current is this?
The warnings are read every 30 minutes, the water temperatures every hour and FWC’s samples every few hours; each answer on the page shows its own age.
Which Florida beaches are covered?
Twenty: Amelia Island, Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Cocoa Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach on the Atlantic; Key Largo, Marathon and Key West; Clearwater Beach, St. Pete Beach, Sarasota, Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach and Naples on the Gulf; and Pensacola, Destin and Panama City Beach in the Panhandle.