Go Back
  • For Business
  • |
  • Warnings
  • Data Suite
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising
  • Superior Accuracy™
Tropical trouble could stir near Southeast beaches around 4th of July. Get details Chevron right
4th of July forecast: Thunderstorms to focus over Upper Midwest, Plains and Florida. Chevron right

Columbus, OH

72°F
Location Chevron down
Location News Videos
Use Current Location
Recent

Columbus

Ohio

72°
No results found.
Try searching for a city, zip code or point of interest.
settings
Columbus, OH Weather
Today WinterCast Local {stormName} Tracker Hourly Daily Radar MinuteCast Monthly Air Quality Health & Activities

Around the Globe

Hurricane Tracker

Severe Weather

Radar & Maps

News

News & Features

Astronomy

Business

Climate

Health

Recreation

Sports

Travel

For Business

Warnings

Data Suite

Newsletters

Advertising

Superior Accuracy™

Video

Winter Center

AccuWeather Early Hurricane Center Top Stories Trending Today Astronomy Heat Climate Health Recreation In Memoriam Case Studies Blogs & Webinars

News / Recreation

Eye above the sky spies which beaches are packed and which are empty amid the pandemic

By Brian Lada, AccuWeather meteorologist and senior content editor

Published Jul 15, 2020 9:11 PM EDT

Copied

Although California was praised for its early response to the coronavirus pandemic, it is now reintroducing restrictions after a rise in cases.

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted life for people in every corner of the globe, including the way that families chose to spend time at popular summer destinations.

Recently, high-resolution images captured by satellites in space revealed how empty -- and how crowded -- some beaches have been from the middle of the Pacific Ocean to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

Maxar Technologies captures images of some of the most popular beaches around the globe and what they look like now, in the height of summer and the coronavirus pandemic.

“As you will see in the images, many beaches continue to have large crowds of people gathering along the shore in spite of the coronavirus; however, some islands and other tourist locations (Hawaii; Cancun; Bahamas) remain comparatively empty due to travel and quarantine restrictions,” Stephen Wood, senior director for Maxar Technologies's news bureau, told AccuWeather in an email.

Packed beaches around the globe seen from space
Twitter

The pictures may be taken from outer space, but even from more than 100 miles above the Earth’s surface, it is evident that not everyone is social distancing at places like Long Branch Beach in Long Branch, New Jersey.

On Sunday, July 12, the same date the photo above was taken, the beach became so crowded that police had to temporarily deny access to the beach for a time during the afternoon, NJ.com reported. The weather was enticing for a day at the beach on Sunday, with mostly sunny skies and a high temperature of 90.

The community is under an order that requires people to wear face masks in public, but that didn’t stop beachgoers from being in nothing but their bathing suits.

Cops shut down access to N.J. town’s beach as crowds swell https://t.co/93NuzbEtJZ pic.twitter.com/1FKNRYoRt3

— njdotcom (@njdotcom) July 12, 2020

Some beaches in California are also experiencing similar crowds as the number of new COVID-19 cases rises to record levels.

CLICK HERE FOR THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

Meanwhile, popular tourist destinations such as Paradise Island in the Bahamas is devoid of visitors.

The resort has been closed since March 25 and has pushed back its scheduled reopening several times due to a rise in coronavirus cases, according to Travel Market Report. The resort is now set to reopen at the end of July.

Correction: Long Branch Beach is in New Jersey, not North Carolina as a previous version of this article stated.

Keep checking back on AccuWeather.com and stay tuned to the AccuWeather Network on DirecTV, Frontier and Verizon Fios.

Report a Typo
Comments that don't add to the conversation may be automatically or manually removed by Facebook or AccuWeather. Profanity, personal attacks, and spam will not be tolerated.
Comments
Hide Comments

Weather News

Recreation

Boulders narrowly miss swimmers at popular Utah waterfall

Jun. 27, 2025
Weather Forecasts

July 4 Forecast: Thunderstorms to focus over Upper Midwest and Florida

Jul. 1, 2025
Weather News

Girl, 8, rescued after 7 hours in flooded sewer in China

Jun. 27, 2025
Show more Show less Chevron down

Topics

AccuWeather Early

Hurricane Center

Top Stories

Trending Today

Astronomy

Heat

Climate

Health

Recreation

In Memoriam

Case Studies

Blogs & Webinars

Top Stories

Weather News

Severe thunderstorms to threaten central and eastern US

1 hour ago

Astronomy

July offers rare meteor shower combo, stunning views of the Milky Way

4 days ago

Weather News

Tropical trouble could stir near Southeast beaches around 4th of July

1 hour ago

Travel

A mother thought her baby was blown out of a plane

3 days ago

Weather News

Flights cancelled as Atlanta airport recovers from severe weather

1 day ago

More Stories

Featured Stories

Weather News

AccuWeather joins Perplexity to power AI weather answers

4 days ago

Travel

A mother thought her baby was blown out of a plane

3 days ago

Weather News

Fossil reveals ‘Last of Us’-type fungus likely lived with dinosaurs

5 days ago

Climate

Your AI prompts could have a hidden environmental cost

1 week ago

Weather News

World’s most liveable city for 2025 revealed

6 days ago

AccuWeather Recreation Eye above the sky spies which beaches are packed and which are empty amid the pandemic
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
Company
Proven Superior Accuracy About AccuWeather Digital Advertising Careers Press Contact Us
Products & Services
For Business For Partners For Advertising AccuWeather APIs AccuWeather Connect RealFeel® and RealFeel Shade™ Personal Weather Stations
Apps & Downloads
iPhone App Android App See all Apps & Downloads
Subscription Services
AccuWeather Premium AccuWeather Professional
More
AccuWeather Ready Business Health Hurricane Leisure and Recreation Severe Weather Space and Astronomy Sports Travel Weather News Winter Center
© 2025 AccuWeather, Inc. "AccuWeather" and sun design are registered trademarks of AccuWeather, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | About Your Privacy Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

...

...

...