Coastal water temperatures sizzling in July

Ocean surf may not be enough to cool you down this summer

Water tempeartures have been running 86° near Jacksonville Beach fore several days while the Gulf is hitting 90°.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Recent water temperatures may not be refreshing enough to cool you down from this summer's heat.

The surf temperature measured at Mayport has been hitting 86° each day, several degrees above 82°,  which would be more typical of the first couple weeks in July.

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Only eight days dropped below 90° last month and half the days so far in July have been 90° or higher.

The hot air and the calm ocean conditions have heated the skin temperatures of the near surface waters several degrees above normal.

Are you headed to the Gulf of Mexico to scallop? Don't look for any relief in the shallow waters of the west coast. Gulf temps are 90° along from Venice to near Cedar Key.

The coolest water along the South Atlantic Bight is right under Tropical Storm Chris. It stayed stationary for such a long period of time that waves upwelled deeper water which cooled the surface more than 6 degrees into the mid 70s. 

It will probably take until late October to get surf temperatures that cool off the coast of Jacksonville. 

Fortunately the central and eastern Atlantic sea surface temperatures are cooler than average which may reduce the number of hurricanes this season.

Water temperatures dropped 6 degrees into the mid 70s under Tropical Storm Chris as it sat stationary in the Atlantic pulling up deeper cooler water.

About the Author:

After covering the weather from every corner of Florida and doing marine research in the Gulf, Mark Collins settled in Jacksonville to forecast weather for The First Coast.