Why is the water so cold?

[Gentoo]

Originally Posted by tstieber

The Gulf of California is only about a 2-3 hour drive from the California border, and it's totally not influenced by the California Current at all. But I worry about heading that way too, and I don't think there are very big towns there. I wonder if the climate would support coconut palms along the gulf, if they were watered. I assume winters wouldn't be warm enough until you got farther south though.

Where is SD's water temp measured? I was just on Wunderground, and they have La Jolla at 68 and "San Diego" at 71+, but I thought that higher temp might be inside the bay? Heck, even Alameda bay beaches near SF are at 68. I don't like bay swimming, but I would imagine SD's Mission Bay must get REALLY warm being all shallow, especially on days when there's no marine layer like today. Anyone know if there's a water temp for Mission Bay?

SD water definitely gets much warmer than LA water though -- I don't think I've ever seen LA water temps out of the 60s. SD always nudges above 70 by late summer.

San Diego's water temps are taken both from inside the bay and at Mission Beach. The reading you get depends on who's reporting it.

[tstieber]

I see that today, the La Jolla water temp is only at 64F, and San Diego shows 68F. San Francisco reports 59F (ocean temp), and Alameda (inside the bay) shows 68F. So I agree with the OP that most of the time, California's water temps are surprisingly cold.

[sdurbanite]

Originally Posted by tstieber

I see that today, the La Jolla water temp is only at 64F, and San Diego shows 68F. San Francisco reports 59F (ocean temp), and Alameda (inside the bay) shows 68F. So I agree with the OP that most of the time, California's water temps are surprisingly cold.

When time were these readings? I swam at La Jolla Shores yesterday after work and it had to have been at least 70 degrees then. Had to do the stingray shuffle since the lifeguard tower had a sign posting they were there in abundance.

Looks like it's warmer today:

COASTAL WEATHER OBSERVATIONS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
100 PM PDT TUE JUL 26 2011

SEA/ STATION
61 / HUNTINGTON BEACH
70 /SAN CLEMENTE PIER
72 / OCEANSIDE HARBOR
71 / SOLANA BEACH
67 / MISSION BEACH


Waters off LA are much cooler:

COASTAL WEATHER OBSERVATIONS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA
100 PM PDT TUE JUL 26 2011

SEA STATION NAME
57 / MORRO BAY
63 / CHANNEL ISLANDS HBR
62 / ZUMA BEACH
67 / HERMOSA BEACH
64 / CABRILLO BEACH

Additional readings as of 300pm:

SAN DIEGO HOURLY WEATHER ROUNDUP
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN DIEGO CA
300 PM PDT TUE JUL 26 2011
MARINE AND OFFSHORE BUOY REPORTS

STATION/ SEA

TANNER BANKS / 61
S CLEMENTE BASIN / 68
SAN NICOLAS IS. / 60
W. S. BARBARA CH / 57
M. S. BARBARA CH / 64
S. MONICA BASIN / 67
S PEDRO CHANNEL / N/A
DANA POINT / N/A
CMP PENDLETON NS / 71
OCEANSIDE OFFSHR / 71
TORREY PINES OTR / 71
LA JOLLA 1 / 71
MISSION BAY BUOY/ 69
SAN DIEGO BAY / 70
POINT LOMA SOUTH / 67

[tstieber]

Ooh, those are tolerable temps. At least in SD, you can get used to the water after a while. In LA or SF, it's just variations on a them of brrr.

[Movin-on-up2011]

no we are in Oceanside and it's pretty much brrr the whole year! We don't care though and get all the way it. It is cold though.