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So what is the weather like right on the beach during a La Nina?
Cooler than the rest of San Diego, just like always.
Although you've reminded me of another point- there's a much more pronounced difference when we have the coastal eddy (may gray/june gloom) which normally happens in, yes, May and June, and can sometimes last all the way through July- or not happen *at all* some years. When that happens the coastal areas and sometimes even up to a couple of miles inland stay socked in under low clouds all day long, making the temperature taken at the airport more like 10 degrees cooler than just a short distance away once you escape the clouds. That likely factors into the average temps being so low until July-August, since most years the eddy disappears around the first of July.
It is why I pointed out to the warm epoch CA guy that it just won't last. Not a chance. You don't have those average SST's and then all of a sudden flip to 77F. That just doesn't happen in nature. End of story. Fantasyland if they think that is the new norm.
Yeah, we have horrible winters, but one thing the East Coast has on them is a warm summer ocean.
It's been hitting the high 70s in the summers the past two years, though. And it's been heavenly. Granted VERY unusual, but heavenly. I wish I could expect that to happen again this year, but..
It's been hitting the high 70s in the summers the past two years, though. And it's been heavenly. Granted VERY unusual, but heavenly. I wish I could expect that to happen again this year, but..
That is cooler than the norm on the US east coast once you get down to Cape Hatteras. And certainly that kind of SST is close to what you would expect all around the Med.
It really is such a downer that CA has a cold ocean. I know it reaches the low 70's usually in mid to late summer, but that is still quite cold.
Offtopic, but my father owns a house/apartment in Oia, Santorini. I was there for a month for September, it pretty much has the same weather as Heraklion, here is a terrace view, you can see my computer where I was working while I was there:
The water in September was warmer than I ever remember it in San Diego, but then I wasn't in San Diego in August 2015. It gets hot, even in September by the sea, which San Diego simply doesn't. I had to soak my head with water every hour by that sink you see to stay outside because it was that hot, in September. Even in Miami I don't need to do this, though sometime by mid/late September the weather changed and it became very rainy and cool. Like a switch was flipped.
Anyways I doubt San Diego ever gets that hot by the sea/ocean. It never did for me, even during "heat waves", by the ocean it was very pleasant. This maybe a blessing for those who hate heat (many people here) and those who love swimming and lounging outdoors at night.
That is cooler than the norm on the US east coast once you get down to Cape Hatteras. And certainly that kind of SST is close to what you would expect all around the Med.
It really is such a downer that CA has a cold ocean. I know it reaches the low 70's usually in mid to late summer, but that is still quite cold.
I guess it's all relative. I look forward to the summer temps and usually swim/body surf/snorkel a few times a week once the water hits 70. But like I said, I was lovin' it the last couple of years when it was in the high 70s and wouldn't complain if it got that high every year!
Offtopic, but my father owns a house/apartment in Oia, Santorini. I was there for a month for September, it pretty much has the same weather as Heraklion, here is a terrace view, you can see my computer where I was working while I was there:
The water in September was warmer than I ever remember it in San Diego, but then I wasn't in San Diego in August 2015. It gets hot, even in September by the sea, which San Diego simply doesn't. I had to soak my head with water every hour by that sink you see to stay outside because it was that hot, in September. Even in Miami I don't need to do this, though sometime by mid/late September the weather changed and it became very rainy and cool. Like a switch was flipped.
Anyways I doubt San Diego ever gets that hot by the sea/ocean. It never did for me, even during "heat waves", by the ocean it was very pleasant. This maybe a blessing for those who hate heat (many people here) and those who love swimming and lounging outdoors at night.
Yeah, it doesn't normally get hot right on the ocean, even in the warmest months.
2015 was actually an exception- it was in the 90s on the sand. I was recovering from cancer surgery and spent several the hottest weeks under an umbrella on the beach to escape the extreme heat we were having in late august-september, and it wasn't much relief, as it was in the 90s and much, MUCH more humid than normal here. I was swimming probably a week earlier than I should have been in the water just because I couldn't stand it. I'd get wet, get tired (almost immediately), get out, park myself under the umbrella, and by the time I was dried off I was hot again and I'd haul myself up for another dip. (I know, doesn't sound awful, but home in bed would have been my preference, except it was so hot there was no resting )
Yeah, it doesn't normally get hot right on the ocean, even in the warmest months.
2015 was actually an exception- it was in the 90s on the sand. I was recovering from cancer surgery and spent several the hottest weeks under an umbrella on the beach to escape the extreme heat we were having in late august-september, and it wasn't much relief, as it was in the 90s and much, MUCH more humid than normal here. I was swimming probably a week earlier than I should have been in the water just because I couldn't stand it. I'd get wet, get tired (almost immediately), get out, park myself under the umbrella, and by the time I was dried off I was hot again and I'd haul myself up for another dip. (I know, doesn't sound awful, but home in bed would have been my preference, except it was so hot there was no resting )
Having cancer and undergoing chemo has got to suck big time and I'm very sorry to hear about our ordeal. I'm glad you had the energy to get into the water and at least enjoy it despite your condition then. I wish you a full recovery.
There is no warm epoch going on in San Diego. It was a super El Nino combined with warm PDO. It won't last if the last 1000 years is anything to go by lol. As if San Diego will automatically start averaging SST's comparable to the Med around Crete. Seriously?
Humans have only been doing formal record keeping in California for a little over a 100 years. We don't know if the climate can undergo different phases that could last for years or even decades. I'll call it a warm epoch until we have a full summer (meaning July through October) of normal SST and temperatures at the beach. Summer of 2014 was ENSO neutral and it was also significantly warmer than normal both on land and in the water. I'd say summer of 2016 will continue to have warmer than the statistical averages on our coastline despite the rapid cooling of the equatorial Pacific. Maybe not as warm as 2015 but probably on par with 2014.
I've been to Crete and Iraklio many times. The summers are great, and really those summer average highs are not indicative of the general area. It's much warmer a few km inland from the airport where the temperature readings are officially taken (same can be said for San Diego though, but even hotter inland). The SST's are a bit coolish compared to other parts of Greece because it's wide open and deep seas looking north in the Aegean so there must be more upwelling.
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