Aquatic Facilities

When inclement weather is threatening, the lead lifeguard will make the decision to close the facility, based on United States Lifesaving Association - Lifeguard Lightening Safety Guidelines, local weather reports/warnings, and common practices/policies used by aquatic centers.

A lifeguard will immediately prompt one long whistle blast, signaling for everyone to get out of the water.

Pools may close if the air temperature, including wind chill, drops below 45 degrees or is the predicted to drop below 45 degrees.

If you hear a siren go off within a City of Fort Lauderdale park, you should take notice - it’s most likely a warning that a lightning storm is approaching.

Currently, there are 13 parks that use a lightning prediction system, consisting of a central sensor unit on a main building and one or more relay horns to provide coverage of an entire area. In addition to the air horns, a yellow strobe light continues to flash after the horns have sounded and stays on until three (3) short horn blasts provide an all-clear signal.

The alarm sound on our lightning prediction system is operable from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. at the following City of Fort Lauderdale parks:

• Bass Park
• Bayview Park
• Carter Park
• Croissant Park
• Floyd Hall Stadium/Morton Activity Center
• George English Tennis Park
• Holiday Park/Jimmy Evert Tennis Center (6 a.m. to 11 p.m.)
• Lauderdale Manors Park
• Mills Pond Park (6 a.m. to 11 p.m.)
• Osswald Park
• Riverland Park
• Snyder Park
• Warfield Park

In the event of a warning (one long 15-second blast), you have between eight and 15 minutes to take shelter, depending on the speed of the storm. Shelter is usually inside a building, under a roof, or inside a car.

All City-sponsored programs will be put on hold until the all-clear sounds and it is safe to go out. Most fatalities occur after a storm has passed, when people think it is safe to go out because the wind and rain have cleared, but the storm discharges one last parting bolt to an area of ground that remains charged.

Be safe, not sorry, and get your family and friends to take shelter when a lightning storm approaches and stay out of the weather until the all-clear signals sound.