Can anyone explain these water temps?

[Aruka]

our temps have recently warmed up to around 53F and it's been glorious.

it's also been lovely reading the journal entries of the SD peeps complaining.

like, just throw on your hooded 5/4 and 7mm booties, I don't see what the big deal is

 

[silentbutdeadly]

complex circulation in the Southern California bight - the answer is not just the wind or the sun, it also involves circulation.

warm and cold pools exist and that’s what you’re seeing hit the moorings when temps jump around. unfortunately moorings are Eulerian and the water needs to move past it to be registered and there aren’t that many moorings given the coast line complexity. If we had more measurements you’d see a better dispersion of the pools.

surely you’ve sat in the lineup and felt a warm pool and then cold pool drift past you. pretend you’re the mooring and that’s what is happening.

oh great look at Mr smarty pants here

 

[silentbutdeadly]

our temps have recently warmed up to around 53F and it's been glorious.

it's also been lovely reading the journal entries of the SD peeps complaining.

like, just throw on your hooded 5/4 and 7mm booties, I don't see what the big deal is

It's crazy. Usually when I've been in 53 temps the 4/3 and boots were fine. I had a hood but no booties. My hands were numb as fook after a long session.

I can't imagine that being the warm side of what you
ve been experiencing. I guess that's why they make thicker rubber.

 

[sdsrfr]

lineups in SD wouldn’t be nearly as crowded if the hot/cold like this week were a regular thing.

 

[Boneroni]

I was prepared to say "upwelling" "spring is always colder than winter", but the timespan for those numbers makes no sense at all.

I'm guessing bad sensor or sensor placement. Or, maybe a bird sat on it for a few hours and warmed it up?

 

[Aruka]

I was prepared to say "upwelling" "spring is always colder than winter", but the timespan for those numbers makes no sense at all.

I'm guessing bad sensor or sensor placement. Or, maybe a bird say on it for a few hours and warmed it up?

it was actually kind of trippy how quickly it warmed up here. it went from 45 to 54 in a couple of days. we had a very cold week of rain (5+ inches of rain, hail, sub 1k snow level, etc.) and then on the last day the air warmed up and the water as did as well. it's the first time the water has been over 50F in ages it feels like. i don't expect it to last long. a day or two of north winds and we'll be back into the 40's.

 

[92122]

Not sure of your data source below, but the Scripps Pier sensor never touched 65* and is currently at 59*.

https://sccoos.org/data/autoss/timeline/?main=single&station=scripps_pier

Upwelling event was Sat/Sun. Winds were light Monday and calm yesterday. Yesterday socked in by fog most of the day. A 10 degree variance with temps hitting 70?

View attachment 128669

 

[Lowqi2]

Global cooling

 

[tacos]

Also, what a lot of people don't know is that a lot of the buoys are quite aways offshore and the water is usually warmer. I've left the harbor and the water is 62/63 at the mouth then about ten miles out it's just over 70. This is in the summer of course but it's usually true year round.

interesting, thanks.
I’ve always wondered why my local buoy (San Pedro) will rarely read below 60 but Surfline (I know, probably my problem) will say 56-58.

 

[rowjimmytour]

interesting, thanks.
I’ve always wondered why my local buoy (San Pedro) will rarely read below 60 but Surfline (I know, probably my problem) will say 56-58.

Very few buoy readings are close to shore and one I keep eye on "harvest platform" is out with oil platforms while E. SB harbor is closer in then W. SB harbor

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I've driven by the two buoys I check and it's cool seeing them in a weird sort of geeky way.

 

[sdsrfr]

Not sure of your data source below, but the Scripps Pier sensor never touched 65* and is currently at 59*.

https://sccoos.org/data/autoss/timeline/?main=single&station=scripps_pier

SIO pier is way more nearshore than the Torrey Pines buoy. You can reference the Scripps Nearshore buoy however, whicb is a stones throw from the end of the pier on the east side of the canyon.



have not personally seen the del mar nearshore but it’s pretty close, too.

 

[Surfdog]

If it weren't for Pt. Conception, So Cal ocean temps would be cold year round, with little to no warm-up in summer. As mentioned above the California Bight is a huge influence on So Cal coastal water temps and temps in general.

The warming on the surface is mostly solar heating in the day time when winds are slack. Once the winds pick-up in the outer coastal waters in churns it up. Offshore winds will also upwell colder waters. Light south winds along the coast can actually pile up warmer surface water on the immediate coast (Catalina Eddy). Kind of the opposite of upwelling. Combine all those in one day, and you can get these wild temp swings within 24 hours, specially in Spring.

Strong El Nino's or La Nina's also weaken or increase outer coastal currents that play a part in general ocean temps well offshore.

Just my observations after 50 years of seeing these ocean temp swings, many times overnight or 24 hours.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I think most of us know the general reason it happens every year we're just wondering what was the differentiating factor that made this one special.

 

[rowjimmytour]

I've driven by the two buoys I check and it's cool seeing them in a weird sort of geeky way.

Stocked you can NOAA stopped maintaning my local in town buoy tells you every thing you need to know now far from accurate w/ Harvest and east and west SB harbor or a least in town

 

[silentbutdeadly]

when I first lived in your area we would get the readings off the weather radio. Then the interwebs came along!

 

[000]

ah yes its nearly may and i am cold in a 4/3

 

[rowjimmytour]

when I first lived in your area we would get the readings off the weather radio. Then the interwebs came along!

I have owned a least 3 of these in my life time used until death and more recent during covid and no radio shack bought a fancy one at marine west with way more bells and whistles then I well ever need but lithium recharbable battery was key

Sites-WestMarine-Site

West Marine

www.westmarine.com

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I listened to the weather channel on my boat last trip and brought back memories. Heck priro to that we would just show up to the beach not knowing a thing

 

[Joshua2415]

spring in socal

This is the way.