Silver Sands, Hammonasset among beaches closed

State closes some beaches for weekend due to algae or bacteria

Sunny skies, warm temperatures and low humidity are in the forecast for the last weekend in August.

Sounds like a perfect time to hit the beach.

But be aware — not all state beaches are open for swimming, because of either high bacteria counts or blue green algae.

Among the beaches closed are Silver Sands State Park in Milford, Hammonasset State Park in Madison and the eastern part of Rock Neck in East Lyme. The state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection retested the water on Friday and is expected to have results around noon Saturday.

Swimming is also not allowed at Indian Well State Park in Shelton and Kettletown in Southbury because of toxic blue green algae.

Kettletown has one of the longest closures of a state beach for blue-green algae. The swimming area, in a cove of Lake Zoar, closed to swimming Aug. 6, two days after signs were posted cautioning swimmers to avoid green film on the water.

Sherwood Island State Park is in Westport remains open for swimming.

All town beaches along the Long Island Sound shoreline from Greenwich to Milford are also open for swimming.

According to the state Department of Health’s 2016 beach report, Connecticut’s monitored beaches were safe for swimming 97.7 percent last season. Within the 72 beaches, there were 157 closure days and six advisory days during the 91-day season.

The report said that 58 percent of those closures were because of elevated bacteria levels, caused by stormwater runoff.

Many beaches are closed after a heavy rainfall because stormwater flows over land, paved streets and parking lots picking up trash, chemicals, sediment and animal waste. This polluted water flows directly into storm drains, rivers, lakes, streams and Long Island Sound elevating bacteria levels.

Although plenty of sunshine is expected on Saturday, highs will only rise into the mid to upper 70s as cooler air continues to filter into the region.

Sunday will also be sunny with a high of 75 degrees.