The Today tab
The Today tab is the app’s home screen and answers “should I go to the beach right now, and what for”. It opens with a beach score out of 100 and a one-line verdict, then runs down through the present (what today is good for, live readings, water quality, air and UV, parking), the next few hours (Later today: weather ahead, sunrise and sunset), and the week (The days ahead: the next window, the best days this week, upcoming events). Every section header with a ⓘ opens an explainer for that section. Pull down to refresh; the Updated … line under the verdict is the age of everything on the screen.
The verdict and score
Section titled “The verdict and score”The top of the screen is a score ring (0–100) beside a headline such as “Go. Best for beach walk & shelling.”, “Worth the trip — good for swimming.”, “Mixed. Surfing is the pick if you go.” or “Not a great day for the beach.” Under it, Updated 3 min ago is when the backend built the payload. If a National Weather Service alert is in force the headline becomes “Active alert: …” instead. How the score is computed is on How the app judges things.
Directly beneath, when there is anything to show, is a warnings block:
- NWS alerts for this area, each as event, window, for example Heat Advisory, Sat 1:47 PM – Sun 8:00 PM, with the issuing office on the line below. Alerts already in force sort above ones that have not begun, which are marked — not yet in force.
- Verdict warnings — safety notes the scoring attached to a positive headline, such as a rip warning riding along with a good walking day.
This block does not appear on a quiet day.
What it’s good for
Section titled “What it’s good for”Four activities, each with a rating (Great, Good, Fair, Poor) and a score badge: Swimming, Surfing, Beach walk & shelling and Sunset watching. Tap one for its detail screen, which shows any warning and a What went into it list — every condition that added or subtracted points, drawn as bars. The ⓘ explainer, How scoring works, says plainly that the weights are opinionated guesses that have not been tuned against real outcomes, so treat the ordering as more trustworthy than the absolute numbers.
Right now
Section titled “Right now”Two rows of three live readings:
| Reading | What it is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Water | Sea-surface temperature, °F | NDBC buoy 41024, off the beach |
| Air | Air temperature, with feels like | Open-Meteo forecast (buoy air temperature if the model is missing) |
| Wind | Speed in mph and compass direction | Buoy 41024 (model wind if the buoy is missing) |
| Surf | Surf height, e.g. 2 to 4 feet | NWS Wilmington surf zone forecast, today’s row for this beach |
| Rip risk | The forecaster’s word — Low, Moderate or High — colour-coded | Same surf zone forecast |
| Swell | Height in feet, with period and direction | NDBC buoy 41013, Frying Pan Shoals, ~50 miles offshore |
Buoy 41024 sits right off Sunset Beach but has no wave sensor — it reports weather and sea-surface temperature only — which is why swell comes from a buoy 50 miles out and surf height comes from a human forecaster rather than an instrument. That is what the ⓘ explainer, Right now, says. If the local buoy is being served from the backend’s last good copy, a Cached badge appears under this section; see How fresh the data is.
Water quality
Section titled “Water quality”Whether NC DEQ has a swimming advisory posted at any of the three ocean sampling stations on this beach, and when the water was last tested. The header’s right-hand side shows the age of the last sample (today, 3d ago).
- On a normal day the card is one line — “No swimming advisory. The water was last tested 4 days ago — 9 MPN/100ml against a 104 standard.” — plus a Last tested row with the date and the reading (9 MPN/100ml · limit 104).
- If any station is under advisory, or the three disagree, each station is listed by name with its status and latest reading.
- If an inch or more of rain had fallen when the sample was taken, a line says so: bacteria run high for a day or two after heavy rain.
- If a sewage spill has been reported nearby, a line describes it (tinted red only if it reached surface water).
- The last line is context: how many advisories the state has on record for these three stations, ever, and when the most recent was.
The measurement is enterococcus; the state posts an advisory above 104 MPN/100ml, covering roughly 200 feet either side of the sign. Sampling runs about five times a month April to November and monthly outside it, so a clear result is often days old — the ⓘ explainer, Water quality, is worth reading. The pier and inland gauge readings on the Water tab are a different thing and are not a bacterial test.
Air & sun
Section titled “Air & sun”| Row | What it shows | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality | US AQI with its category (Good, Moderate, …); a warning line appears when the category carries advice | Open-Meteo Air Quality (CAMS) |
| UV index | UV now, with peaks N for the next 24 hours | Open-Meteo forecast |
| Burn time | Minutes of unprotected sun before fair skin starts to burn (only when UV is above 0.5) | Computed from the UV index |
Practical
Section titled “Practical”One row: Parking reads Paid or Free with the reason — “Paid parking is in effect until 5:00 PM.”, “Parking is free until 9 AM tomorrow.”, “Parking is free until April 1.” and so on — followed by a Beach info button that switches to the Info tab (Beach info), where the rate card, lots and how to pay live. See Beach info.
Later today: Weather ahead
Section titled “Later today: Weather ahead”Three answers to “is that going to come over us”:
- Thunder — the peak chance in the next 24 hours and its hours, e.g. “56% chance of thunder, 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM.” Below a 15% peak it reads “Thunder unlikely in the next 24 hours.” This is the NWS forecast chance for this grid square, not lightning detection.
- Rain — Rain starts with the hour it begins, or Rain · falling now, with the chance and expected amount (40% chance · about 2.5 mm · through 4:00 PM). Rain is given to the hour, not the quarter hour, on purpose. When none is forecast: “No rain in the next 24 hours.”
- Fog risk — an index out of 10 with the hour it peaks; at 7 or above it becomes a warning row.
Thunder and fog come from the NWS gridpoint forecast; rain from Open-Meteo.
Later today: Sunrise & sunset
Section titled “Later today: Sunrise & sunset”One card that shows the morning before 10 AM (beach time) and the evening after. It prints a rating — Spectacular, Promising, Average or Flat — beside the sunrise or sunset time, a one-line reason, and the cloud profile now: High cloud (the canvas), Mid, and Low (the blocker). Under that, in the morning: Civil dawn and Golden hour ends; in the evening: Golden hour and Civil dusk.
The rating is judged on the layered cloud profile at the sunset (or sunrise) hour rather than a single sky-cover percentage — a “99% cloud” sky that is all high cloud is close to ideal, while low cloud blocks the light. The model is described on How the app judges things. If the model has no data the card says “No sunset model available.”
The days ahead: Next window
Section titled “The days ahead: Next window”The single best thing happening in the next twelve hours from the almanac — Today · 6:12 PM–7:40 PM, a title such as Shelling, Ghost crabs or Turtle hatch watch, a subtitle, and a score badge when the window is scored. Tap it for the detail; All windows opens the full almanac under Nature. See When to go.
The days ahead: Best days this week
Section titled “The days ahead: Best days this week”Up to three rows — one per kind of window, not per day — reading, for example, Shelling · Thursday · Good. The week, day by day opens the This week planner under Nature. The ⓘ explainer, How far the week actually reaches, explains which columns are exact (tide times, sunrise) and which are forecast.
The days ahead: Upcoming
Section titled “The days ahead: Upcoming”The next three items on the events timeline — title, time (or All day) and day — with a See all button that switches to the Events tab. See The Events tab.
Where each number comes from
Section titled “Where each number comes from”| Section | Upstream |
|---|---|
| Verdict, What it’s good for | Computed by the backend from the readings below |
| Right now | NDBC 41024 (water, wind), NDBC 41013 (swell), NWS surf zone forecast NCZ110 (surf, rip risk), Open-Meteo (air) |
| Warnings | NWS alerts |
| Water quality | NC DEQ recreational water quality (three ocean stations), NC DEQ sanitary sewer overflows |
| Air & sun | Open-Meteo Air Quality, Open-Meteo forecast |
| Practical | The town’s parking ordinance, computed from the clock |
| Weather ahead | NWS gridpoint forecast (thunder, fog), Open-Meteo (rain) |
| Sunrise & sunset | Open-Meteo layered cloud, solar geometry |
| Next window, Best days this week | The backend’s almanac and planner |
| Upcoming | Town calendar, pier concerts, launches |
The full list, with cadence and known limits, is on Where every number comes from.