Contacts:

Roy Widrig, NYSG Great Lakes Coastal Processes & Hazards Specialist, P: 315-312-3042, E: rlw294@cornell.edu

Kathleen Fallon, NYSG Coastal Processes & Hazards Specialist, P: 631-632-8730, E: kmf228@cornell.edu

Dave White, NYSG Coastal Recreation and Tourism Specialist, P: 315-312-3042, E: dgw9@cornell.edu

New York Sea Grant developed bilingual resources to alert the beach-going and boating public to weather hazards that impact water-based recreation.

Oswego, NY, August 10, 2022 - With nearly 1,300 bathing beaches and more than 20,000 registered recreational boaters in New York State, education about the water-based hazards that the public may encounter is pertinent, and can be life-saving.

Many drowning deaths are related to weather hazards, therefore, in 2021, New York Sea Grant (NYSG) developed a pair of bilingual rack cards (one side in English, one side in Spanish) detailing the types of weather hazards, their associated recreational impact, and what to do in hazardous situations. The cards are being distributed across New York to marinas and public bathing beaches.

Distribution of the rack cards (3.5 inches wide x 8.5 inches tall) began in late summer 2021. A large supply of rack cards was presented to attendees of the November 4, 2021 Marine Trades Workshop in Cicero, NY, which attracted marina managers from throughout New York State.

As distribution continues into 2022, the rack cards will be prominently displayed at marinas and beaches, where boaters and beach-goers will have the opportunity to see them before engaging in water recreation. The cards are also available online at www.nyseagrant.org/weathertogo.

Project Partners:

• Weather-Ready Nation
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• NYSG Discover Clean & Safe Boating Program

Proper precautions can help prevent death by drowning. New York Sea Grant, observing a need to educate recreational boaters and beach-goers on the weather hazards associated with swimming and boating, created bilingual informational rack cards for New York’s marinas and public bathing beaches.


Bilingual rack cards alert New York’s freshwater and marine beach-goers and recreational boaters to weather hazards and ways to protect themselves. Each card includes the project partners’ logos.


More Info: New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant (NYSG), a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York (SUNY), is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program.

Since 1971, NYSG has represented a statewide network of integrated research, education and extension services promoting coastal community economic vitality, environmental sustainability and citizen awareness and understanding about the State’s marine and Great Lakes resources.

Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups—businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public.

The program maintains Great Lakes offices at Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, SUNY Oswego and the Wayne County Cooperative Extension office in Newark. In the State's marine waters, NYSG has offices at Stony Brook University in Long Island, Brooklyn College and Cornell Cooperative Extension in NYC and Kingston in the Hudson Valley.

For updates on Sea Grant activities: www.nyseagrant.org has RSS, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube links. NYSG offers a free e-list sign up via www.nyseagrant.org/nycoastlines for its flagship publication, NY Coastlines/Currents, which is published quarterly.