Transparent by design
What the Beach Day Score means
The 0–100 score answers one narrow question: how promising does this beach look for an ordinary day trip? It combines up to 25 points for air comfort, 20 for dry weather, 15 for wind, 12 for observed water temperature, 13 for observed waves, and 15 for the destination itself.
A score is calculated only when the forecast includes air temperature, rain chance, and wind gusts and a NOAA observation no more than six hours old includes both water temperature and wave height. If any required input is missing, the score is N/A and the beach is excluded from the daily ranking. Because offshore stations can be far from a beach, every detail view names the station, its distance, and observation time.
Official notices override the number
An active Michigan BeachGuard closure sets the score to zero. A contamination advisory caps it at 20. A high NWS swim risk caps it at 20; moderate caps it at 45. Relevant NWS Beach Hazards Statements, Special Weather or Marine Statements, severe warnings, and lakeshore alerts also limit the result and exclude a beach from the daily picks. The daily Surf Zone Forecast matters because moderate swim risk can exist without an active Beach Hazards Statement.
The report checks both Michigan land alerts and Great Lakes marine areas. It filters Special Weather and Marine Statements for shoreline threats such as lightning, waterspouts, damaging winds, high waves, or dangerous currents; an unrelated statement or wildfire Red Flag Warning is not mislabeled as a swimming flag.
When the seasonal page turns on
The dedicated Best Michigan Beaches Today ranking turns on automatically every May 15 and pauses after September 15. The core report on this page, meaning search, map, weather, lake observations, and official notice checks, stays live through fall, winter, and spring.
Frequently asked questions
Which Michigan beach is best today?
There is no permanent winner, because the answer changes with the weather and the lake. From May 15 through September 15, the Michigan Beach Report ranks Great Lakes beaches every day by combining the forecast air temperature, rain and wind with the most recent NOAA buoy water temperature and wave height, then weighting the result for destination fit. A beach only earns a top pick after two checks pass: no matched Michigan BeachGuard or relevant National Weather Service alert is active, and the current NWS swim risk for that shoreline is explicitly low. If any input is missing or stale, the beach scores N/A or drops out of the ranking rather than receiving a fallback all-clear. Outside the summer season the ranking pauses, but the search, map, weather, lake observations and official notice checks keep running, so you can still compare shoreline conditions on a shoulder-season day.
Why can water temperature or waves say “not current”?
The report will not pass an old or incomplete buoy observation off as live. NOAA buoys and coastal stations report on their own schedules, and any of them can stop reporting when it is serviced, retrieved for the winter, or offline for a few hours. When the most recent water temperature or wave height for a beach is more than six hours old, or when either value is missing entirely, the beach's lake-condition score becomes N/A and the reading is labeled not current or unavailable instead of being carried forward. That choice is deliberate: a stale wave height could make a rough day look calm, and a missing water temperature could make cold water look inviting. The weather forecast and the official notice checks still run for that beach, so it stays in search and on the map, but it cannot earn a top-pick ranking until fresh lake data returns.
Does low NWS swim risk mean a green beach flag?
No. The NWS beach hazard forecast and the flag on the pole are two different things. The National Weather Service rates swim risk as low, moderate or high, and that is forecast guidance for a stretch of shoreline, not a statement about one beach at one hour. At Michigan state park flag sites, staff post the flag on site: green means low hazard, yellow means medium, red means high, and double red means water access is closed. Park staff can change the physical flag as conditions shift during the day, so a low forecast can coexist with a yellow or red flag after a wind change. Because this report cannot see the pole, it leaves posted flag status unknown and tells you to check the flag when you arrive. Treat a low NWS risk as a reason to go and look, never as permission to skip the flag.
Can I use this to decide whether to swim?
Use it to compare day-trip conditions between beaches, not to decide whether to enter the water. The report shows forecast weather, recent NOAA water temperature and wave height, and whether an official notice is active, which is enough to choose which shoreline to drive to. Before swimming, check the official Michigan BeachGuard record for that beach, the National Weather Service beach hazard forecast, any lifeguard instructions, the flag actually posted at the beach, notices at the entrance, and the shoreline itself. Great Lakes currents change rapidly: rip currents form near piers and sandbars, structural currents run along breakwalls, channel and outlet currents pull toward river mouths and harbor openings, and longshore currents carry swimmers down the beach. A report that read fine an hour earlier cannot see a wind shift, so the final call belongs to what you see and what staff post when you arrive.