United States / New York
Jacob Riis Park
Jacob Riis Park is a 256 m-long sandy beach facing south-south-east on the Atlantic Ocean, 1.2 km south-west of Neponsit (New York, United States). The sea averages 23.1 °C in August, its warmest month, and 4.3 °C in February; it is 21 °C or warmer in July–September. Recorded status on Wikidata: National Register of Historic Places listed place.
Average sea surface temperature by month. Current month outlined.
Reference
Jacob Riis Park, also called Jacob A. Riis Park and Riis Park, is a seaside park on the southwestern portion of the Rockaway Peninsula in the New York City borough of Queens.
Wikidata item Q6119176 · classified as urban park.
Month by month
October at Jacob Riis Park
Beach-day index 3.5/10 · United States median 4.5
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sea °C | 6.0 °C | 4.3 °C | 4.8 °C | 7.9 °C | 12.6 °C | 18.1 °C | 22.2 °C | 23.1 °C | 21.4 °C | 17.3 °C | 12.7 °C | 9.0 °C |
| High °C | 2° | 3° | 8° | 14° | 20° | 25° | 29° | 28° | 25° | 18° | 11° | 5° |
| Low °C | -6° | -5° | -2° | 4° | 10° | 16° | 19° | 19° | 15° | 8° | 2° | -3° |
| Rain mm | 81 | 81 | 100 | 102 | 98 | 117 | 109 | 114 | 105 | 122 | 91 | 116 |
| Cloud % | 62 | 60 | 60 | 61 | 63 | 59 | 54 | 53 | 51 | 55 | 57 | 63 |
| Wind m/s | 3.8 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.5 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| Daylight h | 9.6 | 10.6 | 11.9 | 13.3 | 14.4 | 15.1 | 14.8 | 13.8 | 12.5 | 11.2 | 10.0 | 9.3 |
| Record high/low | 19°/-21° | 20°/-24° | 22°/-20° | 32°/-5° | 30°/1° | 34°/6° | 39°/11° | 39°/12° | 35°/6° | 33°/-3° | 23°/-12° | 21°/-16° |
| Beach index | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.6 | 2.6 | 3.9 | 6.9 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 8.1 | 3.5 | 2.7 | 2.4 |
Long-term monthly averages: air from NASA POWER (2001–2020), sea from NOAA OISST (1991–2020); records are the extremes of 2001–2020. How the index works.
When to go
The beach-day index peaks in July–September; August scores 8.6/10 with highs of 28 °C, sea at 23.1 °C and 114 mm of rain.
In August that is 0.5 points above the median of the 2,466 beaches in United States covered by this atlas.
At its warmest the water here is 0.6 °C warmer than the United States median for August (22.5 °C).
Across the year the sea averages 13.3 °C, cooler than 79% of the coastal beaches in the atlas.
October is the wettest month (122 mm) and January the driest (81 mm); the yearly total is about 1,240 mm.
Daylight runs from 9.3 hours in December to 15.1 hours in June; in mid-August the sun rises at 06:05 and sets at 19:55 local time.
Orientation, sun and shore
The shore faces south-south-east (160°). Open water fills about 72% of the horizon close by, which makes it an exposed spot with water on most sides.
The sun sets over the sea in May–August; in mid-June it goes down at 20:27 local time on a bearing of 302°.
Sunrise is over the sea in October–March.
Straight out to the south-south-east there is open water for more than 2,000 km, so the beach is exposed to long ocean swell. The beach is on Rockaway, an island of about 3,450 km².
About 1 km offshore the sea is roughly 5 m deep and 10 m at 3 km, a shallow, gently shelving sea floor. Behind the beach the ground is about 0 m above sea level 500 m inland and 0 m at 1.5 km, a flat coastal plain.
Within 1 km, the land is 37% built-up land, 34% grassland and 20% bare ground, sand or rock (satellite land-cover map, 2021): a partly built-up setting. Water makes up 55% of that circle.
- Built 37%
- Grass 34%
- Bare 20%
- Tree 7%
- Crop 3%
Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021 (10 m). Orientation from OpenStreetMap land polygons sampled in 36 directions; depths and heights from the GEBCO 2020 grid (about 450 m cells), indicative only.
OpenStreetMap shows no lifeguard station within 1 km. Seasonal lifeguard posts are often unmapped, so check on site.
Photos
From above
Facilities within 1 km
- 6Restaurants, cafés & bars
- 4Public toilets
- –Showers
- 2Drinking water
- 5Car parks
- –Lifeguard stations
- 21Bus stops (1.5 km)
Food and drink mapped within 1 km: 4 restaurants, 1 bar and 1 fast-food outlet.
Counted within 1 km of the beach (bus stops 1.5 km) from OpenStreetMap features and Overture Maps places, release of 2026-10. Unmapped does not mean absent.
Getting there
| Airport | Code | Distance | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| John F. Kennedy International Airport New York | JFK | 11.4 km | north-east |
| LaGuardia Airport New York | LGA | 23.4 km | north |
| Newark Liberty International Airport Newark | EWR | 28.5 km | north-west |
Straight-line distances from the beach; road distance is usually 20–40% longer.
Local transport: 21 bus stops within 1.5 km and 5 mapped car parks within 1 km.
13 towns and villages of 1,000+ people lie within 10 km (about 482K residents); within 30 km there are 223 (about 22.6M).
When people look it up
The EN Wikipedia article was read 21,362 times in the 12 months to August 2026. Interest peaks in July (3,749 views), 4.7× the quietest month.
Map and nearby beaches
Loading map…
Open in OpenStreetMap · Directions in Google Maps
| Beach | Distance | Warmest sea | Length | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Riis Park | – | 23.1 °C | 256 m | Sand |
| Rockaway Beach | 6.2 km E | 23.1 °C | 10.6 km | Sand |
| Coney Island | 9.2 km W | 23.1 °C | – | – |
- Rockaway Beach6.2 km ECompare
- Coney Island9.2 km WCompare
Data on this page
- Air temperature, rain, cloud, wind, humidity: NASA POWER climatology 2001–2020, 0.5° grid.
- Sea temperature: NOAA OISST v2.1 monthly normals 1991–2020, nearest ocean cell 6.4 km away.
- Beach outline, surface, rules and public facilities: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), feature w1057432963; restaurants, cafés, bars and lodging: Overture Maps places (CDLA-Permissive-2.0).
- Water body, status and length: Wikidata (CC0).
- Towns and time zone: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Airports: OurAirports (public domain). Sunrise and sunset: NOAA solar equations.
- Photos: Wikimedia Commons, author and licence under each image.
- Satellite view: Copernicus Sentinel-2 (ESA), scene S2B_18TWL_20241018_0_L2A.
- Orientation: OpenStreetMap land polygons (ODbL). Depth and terrain: GEBCO 2020 grid.
- Settlements: GeoNames places with 1,000+ inhabitants.
- Land cover: ESA WorldCover 2021, 10 m (CC BY 4.0).
Data compiled 2026-10-13. Something wrong? Report a data error.