Hurricane Bill washed out one of the last weekends of the summer for most beachgoers after state parks officials closed down most beaches due to the dangerous conditions brought on by effects of the storm. But when surfers got wind of the fact that sea was foaming like a bottle of beer, they simply told the State Parks Department, "The waves are comin', but we ain't got no fear." Officials said that 2,000 surfers, some from as far as California, showed up at Montauk—the most ever counted out there. And one Long Beach manager told Newsday, "You're supposed to have a pass. The surfers refuse to come out of the water when they're waved in to check their beach passes." more ›

Though Hurricane Bill is weakening and spinning away from New England's coastline, nearby beaches were still closed, due to rip current threats and flooding. While NYC preemptively closed most city beaches on Friday, Long Island and NJ beaches weren't closed until yesterday. NYC beachgoers were threatened with tickets if they tried to approach the water while Long Island's Robert Moses Beach had to be closed—a state parks spokesman told Newsday, "The entire sand part of the park is under water" (the beach did reopen later for sunbathing). In NJ's Ocean Grove, lifeguards told the Star-Ledger, "We're only allowing surfers that seem competent. We've had pretty bad rip currents," but one in Ocean City told WCBS 2, "People are walking and it's ankle deep and get swept out because ankle deep goes to knee deep goes to chest deep." more ›

As Hurricane Bill heads north and not too close to our shores, there are still concerns about rip currents from the storm. The Parks Department said that it is "closing Rockaway Beach, Coney Island Beach, Manhattan Beach, South Beach, Midland Beach and Wolfe’s Pond Beach to swimming due to the approaching hurricane. Orchard Beach in the Bronx remains open assuming conditions do not deteriorate and the city’s 63 pools and 650 spray showers offer opportunities to cool off." more ›

There is a cold front ready to rescue us from this week's heat and humidity melodrama. Unfortunately the front will have to wait in the wings as diva Hurricane Bill lights up the stage. Bill isn't going to make landfall in the US but it will cause dangerous rip currents this weekend. Be careful! more ›