Monroe County·Florida Keys·Atlantic Coast

Should you swim at Key West Beach after rain?

This page is built for the day when a beach looks tempting but recent rain makes the normal badge harder to trust. The displayed readings belong to SOUTH BEACH, about 0.3 miles away, and were not collected at Key West Beach.

POORNearby station · 0.3 mi awayLatest sample: September 8, 2026344 CFU/100mL33% poor-sample history
Nearby-station history — not collected at Key West Beach. The readings on this page come from SOUTH BEACH, about 0.3 miles away.

Current picture

POOR at SOUTH BEACH, the nearby station about 0.3 miles away, at 344 CFU/100mL.

Recent-sample context

4 poor samples and 5 non-good samples in the displayed history.

Rain still matters

Stormwater can make this page stale faster than the normal testing schedule, especially after heavy rain.

Wait window

72 hours

Use that as the default buffer after heavy rain before trusting routine samples too much.

Latest poor sample

September 8, 2026

A recent poor sample is a stronger reason to be conservative after runoff.

Displayed-sample spike risk

33%

Lower is better when weather makes your same-day decision harder.

Lower-Risk Nearby Options After Rain

Rain guide →

Water Quality History — Latest Samples

Sample source: SOUTH BEACH (nearby station for Key West Beach)

35.4
70.5
271
Mar
10
Apr
20
Apr
20
May
10
Jun
10
Jun
10
Jun
10
Jul
150
Jul
280
Aug
42
Aug
344
Sep

Values in CFU/100mL. Green = Good (≤35.4), Yellow = Moderate (35.5–70.4), Red = Poor (≥70.5)

Recent Warning-Sign Samples

Full history →

September 8, 2026

344 CFU/100mL · POOR

POOR

August 25, 2026

42 CFU/100mL · MODERATE

MODERATE

August 11, 2026

280 CFU/100mL · POOR

POOR

July 28, 2026

150 CFU/100mL · POOR

POOR

March 24, 2026

271 CFU/100mL · POOR

POOR

How To Use This Page

This page is built for the day when a beach looks tempting but recent rain makes the normal badge harder to trust. The displayed readings belong to SOUTH BEACH, about 0.3 miles away, and were not collected at Key West Beach.

Use this view as a decision aid, not a guarantee. The latest sample, visible runoff, and recent weather still matter more than any single list or chart.

If you want the main same-day answer instead, go back to the Key West Beach beach page.

Data from FL DOH Healthy Beaches Program. This is an independent project, not official real-time clearance — check with Florida DOH for official conditions.