Local beaches are ready for Labor Day weekend

August 31 — As summer draws to a close, local beaches are gearing up for one last hurrah this Labor Day weekend.

With warm weather and mostly sunny skies forecast, beachgoers can expect the perfect setting for relaxing, family picnics and lakeside activities.

While rain is expected today, with highs of 75 degrees, sunny skies will prevail Sunday and Monday, with highs in the 70s, according to the National Weather Service.

Water quality at Ashtabula County beaches is good for the holiday weekend, with no bacterial contamination advisories in effect, the Ohio Department of Health reported Friday.

A bacterial contamination advisory is “posted when the level of bad bacteria in the water has reached dangerous levels and could make you sick. Children, the elderly, and people in poor health or with weakened immune systems are advised not to swim,” according to the ODH.

The Ohio Department of Health, with a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is monitoring beaches along the Lake Erie shoreline for E. coli bacteria.

Monitoring is carried out in collaboration with local health departments. Water samples are taken from beaches and the results are communicated to the public.

If the sample results are above the recreational standard of 235 colony-forming units, a notice is posted to warn swimmers of the risk of illness associated with contact with the water.

The notice remains posted until a follow-up sample result is below the recreational standard.

The Beach Guard website, odh.ohio.gov, allows local beach managers to post real-time beach monitoring and reporting data online and allows the public to view beach advisories.