Beach lovers in the Hamptons keep a watchful eye on the weekend weather forecast, but they’re not the only ones. Owners of the galleries that make up the Hamptons’ thriving art scene watch each weekend for the right combination of meteorological elements to bring in potential buyers.

Rain and overcast skies fill the galleries with would-be beachgoers looking for ways to fill the sunless hours.

“Rain brings people in droves,” the co-owner of Vered Gallery in East Hampton, Janet Lehr, said. “It’s nothing short of amazing.”

Large rainy day crowds are sometimes a bit unwieldy for the gallery’s five-person staff. On rainy days, she said, “we could use 10 people in the gallery.”

The same holds true for museums such as Guild Hall on Main Street in East Hampton. Ruth Appelhof, Guild Hall’s executive director, estimates that rain doubles the number of visitors on an average summer day. “We have enormous traffic on rainy days,” she said.

For a beach community, the Hamptons are fortunate to have a thriving arts scene, fueled by decades of artists who, drawn by sea breezes, scenic pastoral vistas, and stunning light, have settled on the East End.

“When you think of little beach towns on Cape Cod, you don’t think of having the arts to go with it,” Ms. Appelhof said. East Hampton, on the other hand, can be described as a “modern day artist’s colony,” she said, while nearby Southampton is a fertile ground for art patrons.

Still. the beach takes priority during summer months. Laura Grenning, owner of the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor, said she’s seriously considered keeping “Italian hours,” in the summertime. “My clients stop in before 11 or 12, then I don’t see anyone until 4:30 on a nice day,” she said.

For galleries not located on main thoroughfares, encouraging summer traffic can be even more difficult, according to Arlene Bujese, who ran a gallery on the outskirts of Southampton before opening her own in East Hampton.

“I’d see everybody Friday afternoon, then Sunday afternoon on the way out,” she said, adding that summer can be a difficult time for sales. “Beautiful weather doesn’t mean visiting galleries.”

But gallery owners stop short of wishing for rain: If it’s pouring in the city, attendance suffers because people decide not to go to the country at all. And those who do make it to the Hamptons tend to stay home rather than “poke around” art galleries, Ms. Grenning said.

“Nobody wants to poke around with an umbrella,” Ms. Grenning said.

The best weather for an art gallery, she said, is a gray sky swollen with impending rain. “My favorite weather is beautiful and sunny in New York, and overcast out here,” she said.

But the prominent place of beach-going and pool-sitting in Hamptons life also has its upsides, art-wise. Afternoons, once the prime tanning hours are over, bring relaxed, happy crowds bicycling, walking, and driving to galleries and museums, sometimes clad in swimsuits and beach towels.

“We welcome people right off the beach — many of them come with sand between their toes,” Ms. Appelhof said. “That kind of comfortable, casual atmosphere is one of our greatest assets.

On an afternoon when there’s a lecture, museum attendance can easily hit 700 people, Ms. Appelhof said. The same goes for a highprofile exhibition, such as the current Dan Flavin show, “An Intimate View.” And Guild Hall’s John Drew Theater attracts hundreds of people every night.

In general, arts-related activities certainly don’t stop when the sun goes down in the Hamptons. Vered Gallery is open until 11 p.m. daily during the summer, Ms. Lehr said.

“It’s a beach community — it’s relaxed,” Ms. Lehr said. “People don’t hunker down at 9 at night. They’re ready to go and do and enjoy things.”

That Hamptons’ joie de vivre has taught gallery owners not to lose sleep over the vagaries of Mother Nature, rain or not.

“I think people are interested in coming to look at art, or they’re not,” gallery owner Andrea Rosen, who hosts a yearly show in a private home in Amagansett, said. “They’ll find their way there.”

In recent years, interest in Hamptons galleries has increased, as more and more young, moneyed families have moved to the area and have furnished their second homes with art.

“I’ve seen a tremendous increase in visitors and interest,” Ms. Bujese said. “Young people are generating good incomes. They have a second home and they can afford it.”