Our Data & Methodology

We publish live and historical Gulf conditions for Perdido Key and Orange Beach. Here's exactly where every number comes from, how often it updates, and the one rule that always wins: the lifeguard flag flying at your beach access is the official word — we help you plan, we don't replace the sign.

Where the beach flags come from

There is no single live "Perdido Key lifeguard flag" data feed, so we use the nearest reported sources for each side of the state line:

Florida (Perdido Key): the daily flag report from Mote Marine's Beach Conditions Reporting System for Pensacola Beach (the nearest actively-reported station), submitted by trained beach ambassadors. It's a once-a-day human observation, so we trust a report for up to 24 hours and then mark the flag "unconfirmed" rather than show a stale one.
Alabama (Orange Beach): the City of Orange Beach "Molly's Patrol" Daily Beach Report. We verify the report is dated today before trusting it; if we can't confirm the date, we show "unconfirmed" instead of a possibly-stale flag.

Because these are proxy/observed sources, the flag we show can occasionally differ from what's actually flying at your exact access — so always check the posted sign and the lifeguards.

Water temperature, surf & wind

Pulled from NOAA NDBC buoy 42012 offshore, refreshed continuously. Water temperature is the offshore reading and can differ a degree or two from the surf line.

Forecast, tides, sun & red tide

Forecast & rip-current risk: the U.S. National Weather Service (api.weather.gov), Mobile/Pensacola office.
Tides: NOAA CO-OPS tide predictions for the local station.
Sunrise / sunset / golden hour: computed from the Key's latitude and longitude.
Red tide: Florida FWC's sampling status. "None" means no active bloom reported near here, not a guarantee — sensitive groups should still watch for symptoms on site.

How often it updates

Beach flags, buoy (water/surf/wind), and weather alerts: every ~5 minutes.
NWS forecast and rip-current outlook: hourly.
Tide predictions, red tide, sun times: daily.

Every value carries an "as of" time, and if our collector stalls we flag the data as stale rather than pretend it's current.

How the Beach Day Score is calculated

The 0–10 Beach Day Score is measurement-led: the continuously-updated water temperature, wind, and surf set the base score, and the once-a-day lifeguard flag adjusts it. A fresh double-red caps the score low because the water is legally closed; a plain red nudges it toward caution. We deliberately don't let a single, possibly-aging flag turn an otherwise calm day into the worst rating — but a real closure always reads as one.

Our accuracy commitment

We fail "closed." When we don't have a reliable value, we show "unavailable" — never a fabricated or stale number stamped as live.
The flag at your access wins. Posted lifeguard flags and on-site signage are always authoritative over anything here.
We publish our raw data. The full daily history is open at /api/history (JSON), and the aggregate is on our State of the Gulf page. Anyone can check our work.

Spot something wrong?

Tell us and we'll fix it fast — accuracy is the whole point. Send a correction →