About SpikeWeather
SpikeWeather reads the live forecast — wind, gusts, surf, tide, temperature, and daylight — and turns it into one honest call: play, or bail. Instead of five tabs of raw numbers you get a single playability score, the factor dragging it down, and the best window to get on the court.
Frequently asked questions
How does SpikeWeather decide if it's playable?
It scores each hour from 0 to 10. Sustained wind sets the ceiling, then feels-like temperature, rain chance, and gust spread pull it down. A hard gate — darkness, heavy rain, extreme cold or heat, or wind past a cutoff — can rule an hour out entirely. The score maps to five bands, Prime down to Blown, and the limiting factor names whatever is hurting most.
What wind speed is too windy for beach volleyball?
There is no single cliff, but in SpikeWeather's model sustained wind under about 10 mph plays great, 10 to 13 is still good, and 14 to 16 gets tricky as serves and sets start drifting. At 20 mph sustained (17 for 2v2) it calls conditions Blown. Gusts matter as much as the average — a calm 8 mph with 20 mph gusts plays worse than a steady 12.
Is SpikeWeather just for Long Beach, NY?
No — search any beach or coastal city worldwide for the same scored forecast. Long Beach, NY gets extra local touches: named East and West End courts, a beach-width read from the tide, and an evening-league view for the Monday-to-Friday 6 to 8 PM window.
What's the difference between the 4v4 and 2v2 scores?
2v2 is graded harder on wind and gusts. With half the players covering the same sand, wind does more damage — so 2v2 treats the wind as a few mph stronger, lowers its blown-out cutoff, and penalizes gusty spread more than 4v4 does.
Where does the data come from?
Wind, gusts, temperature, rain, and waves come from Open-Meteo; tide predictions come from NOAA stations on US coasts. Scoring runs on the server, so the call you see is computed fresh, not guessed.
Is it free?
Yes — SpikeWeather is free to use, with no account needed.