Ocean water temperatures off San Diego break all time records (article)

[Hobbes]

I distinctly remember surfing the El Segundo jetty (a winter time spot) in trunks on Nov 1 1998. The water was 68-70 and I think the beach hit 95 that day.

SoCal weather is heavily influenced - and in some cases, dictated - by offshore water temperatures. Hard NW winds during fall, winter & spring cause upwelling, which allows colder water laying in lower bands to rise to the surface. The wind blowing off this surface water then acts like an air conditioner for inland areas. The same exact phenomenon operates in the Bay area.

In summer, the prevailing NW winds north of Pt Conception cycle around the Channel islands - called the Catalina eddy - and blow back from the SW/SE. This both brings warmer water from outer reaches, but also allows the local, inshore waters to simmer in the sun. I love this website because it shows wind, temps and clouds:

https://www.windy.com/33.678/-118.000?3 ... ,m:eBiacSv

If you want to know the weather in SoCal, talk to a surfer, diver or fisherman. They are all acutely aware and tied into swell, tides, weather and water temps. I've posted links to the weather section of a bi-weekly surf forecast on occasion. Here's an update - note how the water temps have all dropped in the last few days. Why? Because the afternoon has been blowing ... NW.

https://forecasts.surfer.com/#place=33. ... one_Sat_-1

Dave, if you're seeking a warm, summer like SoCal beach experience, you must travel south past SB/Ventura. (I went to UCSB and the summers can be just like Santa Cruz.) What people imagine as the archetypal beach lifestyle doesn't really start until Malibu. There are tons of state beaches and private RV spots along the coast all the way to San Diego. The first one you hit coming down the PCH after Oxnard is Sycamore.

Thornhill_Beach_Campground_2.jpg

[Hobbes]

Coincidentally, Surfline just posted an article on recent weather & water temps. It covers the present warming anomaly, and presents some interesting graphics that illustrate my comment above about Ventura vs Malibu:

https://www.surfline.com/surf-news/reco ... aves/32313

[mrphil]

It's too bad we don't see a 4 month mean there.

https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/highest-e ... ripps-pier

http://sccoos.org/data/autoss/timeline/ ... arns_wharf#

I can't get the second link data fields to hold my settings, so you'll have to play with it for temp and timeline, then extrapolate your own mean.

[Jimr]

"What people imagine as the archetypal beach lifestyle doesn't really start until Malibu."

Right. And if you want the full Monty, you really need to get as far South as Manhattan Beach.

[freestone]

Dave: If you come to SB, the best ocean swimming is at Arroyo Burro County Beach Park, AKA Hendry's Beach, west of Leds a couple of miles, the microclimate is much better there. You will find perfect conditions: warm clear water, surf (yes, perfect bodysurfing conditions) and showers. My daily retirement routine has been to ride my bike there, swim out to the buoys, body surf then shower. I stay in the water as long as I like, trunking it.



The eastern pacific hurricane season is very active this year, has that pushed a lot of warm water north? I suspect at least one of these storms will recurve back into SoCAl and/or the desert and Sierra before the season is over. The last time we had this kind of warmup, it lasted into the fall and was followed by an extremely dry winter so I hope this condition is different in that regard!

[SSSdave]

Hobbes, I was born in downtown LA and though have lived most of my childhood in NorCal, did live in Claremont area of San Diego for 9th grade during the mid 60s peak of the surf craze. If it were not for the cold water temps up here even with a wet suit, would have been a surfer. Per that water temp map link in my post, one will see water temps below Point Conception are all well above normal. As a frugal retired dirt bag trying to live within my monthly SSI check income, I don't want to spend several hundred bucks driving too far south or slum about in some pricy beach resort.

While it would be great minus the drive to go all the way down to SD or even Santa Monica, Santa Barbara is just 235 miles x2 at 25mpg about $80 worth of gas with the drive less than 5 hours each way. In the spring I sometimes drive all the way down to the border and that extremely long boring drive takes quite a lot of motivation to do so. Not something I feel like doing for a few sessions in the surf haha.

Thanks Freestone, for your local SB input. I have looked at the SB beach info and will only want to visit beaches with outdoor showers for the option of skimping on getting a motel. Although am an expert at getting down into all manner of obscure beaches, for this kind of fun trip will prefer a popular city beach with a lot of people and for that reason am thinking of right over Labor Day holiday. Arroyo Burro CB (doggy stick beach) is one I would hit. With current water temp 72F one could stay in the surf quite awhile. First need to spend a few days locally down at Santa Cruz building up my tan a bit more where water temp is only 56F.

[Hobbes]

If you come to SB, the best ocean swimming is at Arroyo Burro County Beach Park

I lived in Isla Vista while attending UCSB. I stayed over a few summers, and to get out of the fog, would often head into town. One fine summer day, I'm hanging at Arroyo Burro minding my own business, when Kathy Ireland and her sister showed up. They decided to sit within 10-15 yards of me, so of course it was impossible not to stare. This was when she was doing SI covers - unbelievable:

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch& ... =763&dpr=1

PS Hopefully in this PC era, the above observation isn't construed as sexist; it works both ways. For example, my wife has always had a crush on John Cusack. Lo and behold, while we're having a drink in Joe Allen (NYC) one evening, in come Marissa Tomei, Q Tarantino and ... Cusack. They get the table next to us (they had just finished a show), and of course my wife can barely stop peeking. And this is 20 years after his teen/early 20s movies. LOL

[Hobbes]

Santa Barbara is just 235 miles

Heading up norte to Saratoga myself in two weeks. Up the 101, down the (recently re-opened) 1 back. Taking the Jeep - top down, slow boat. Wife has biz trip, so I get to cruise solomente.

If you don't mind colder weather/water, either Jalama or Gaviota are great little pocket camping spots. Jalama is county, Gaviota is state. They cut off around 25-35 miles, so then you're looking at only 200.

[Jimr]

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[longri]

It's too bad we don't see a 4 month mean there. I remember in the early '80's, when we had a particularly strong El Nino, that the exotics (blue fin, big eye, yellow fin and yellow tail) traveled extremely far North of their usual pattern. Small Yellowtail (5 to 6 lbs) were tail finning the intake buoy in Redondo Harbor and Dorado/yellowtail were being hammered from under kelp patties in the Catalina channel. That was a destructive period for Kelp. Most healthy kelp beds that normally grow around Palos Verdes were decimated because of the warm water....

Just looking at the daily values it doesn't appear that the '82-83 El Niño had that big of an impact on the surface temperature at Scripps. Oddly there was a peak in 1984 during a La Niña phase.

A four month running average won't tease anything out that didn't exist.