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Isn't that ironic, and too bad, that the best of time of season to showcase the beach (summer) is the worst for surfing? You'd think and rather have it where flat waves happen in winter when nobody can really swim in any event.
Actually, I think the swimmers - adults and children - would far out number the surfers and would much rather have those flat, calm ocean waters.
I grew up In VA Beach and can tell you that upwelling does occur in the area along the resort strip.Maybe you just timed it right,I don't know.
You've asked the same question repeatedly on the OBX Connection.What answer are you looking for?
1) Why is that at Nags Head right now, the ocean temp is 70, when in mid July, when I was in Nags Head and it was 100 outside, the water was a freezing 60?
2) Why is that at Nags Head in July, the ocean temp was 60, but north in VA Beach, it was 78?
(How come they didn't get the cold upwelling)
3) Why is that at Nags Head in July, the ocean temp was 60, but Cape Hatteras and Rodanthe where at 73?
(How come they didn't get the cold upwelling)
4) Why is that right now, Nags Head has 70 degree water, but Frisco has 80 degree water...in October!
5) Why is that in July, on any given day, the surf stinks, but in Fall, even when there are no hurricanes, on any given week you are likely to get at least a few strong days of surf at the OBX?
That's what I want to know, it was not directly answered in any of my prior threads. I want to know why, this way I can better choose the best time to go to get warm water and good surf.
Why? Why is upwelling not a problem in Northern VA Beach, but a problem from Sandbridge to Nags Head (bot not Pea Island)?
What is it about that strip of land that makes it so you get the cold 60 degree water on a 100 degree day, but not in Northern VA Beach of HI?
I don't understand why the narrow strip of land, starting at Sandbridge, is vulnerable, but Northern VA Beach is not?
Is it something about Sandbridge, northern OBX, being narrow with a back side of water (Back Bay or the Currituck Sound)? Whereas Northern VA Beach has no parralel body of water?
1) This summer, I was at the Northern Outer Banks (north of the Oregon Inlet, south of Virgina). I was there in July, late, and the air temperature was a sweltering 100 degrees! However, the ocean water temp was freezing in Nags Head. It was only 60 degrees the entire week!
What was odd was how south of the Oregon Inlet, the water was a nice 72 degrees (or warmer), and north, in VA Beach, it was 78. Heck I checked, in NY, NJ and even Rhode Island the water temperatures held in the low 70s!
I was shocked that in July, 100 degrees, the Outer Banks of North Carolina were colder in the ocean than beaches hundreds of miles north.
Some people told me this is just mother nature, and surf temperatures vary depending on many factors, like a westerly wind. I was told by some that the Outer Banks are more vulnerable to upwelling in the north because as opposed to other North Atlantic beaches, they are further out to sea and thus have stronger offshore winds. As well, the continental shelf is steeper, meaning there is less "warm surface water" so the westerly winds the Northern Outer Banks gets will be stronger and be more drastic in replacing warm surface water with cold, deeper water.
Some also told me that the Northern Outer Banks unlike Cape Hatteras jut out more to where the gulf and Labrador currents meet, and are close to "eddies" or fingers of the Labrador current. As well, beaches south of the Oregon Inlet benefit from having the inlet dump warmer sound water, likewise so does VA Beach, also making them less impacted by upwelling.
I just wanted to ask if you knew or had any explanation as to why in the summer that the Northern Outer Banks water temperature is so variable and vulnerable to very cold spells, making them more cooler than beaches well north in New York?
2) Similarly, since my visit, I have been tracking the surf temperatures. In mid October, Nags Head was reading 69 degrees! Right now, in November, the temperature is 66 degrees!
It is maddening to me because in July when it was daylight for 14 hours with 100 degree days it was a freezing 60 degrees, yet in the middle of fall it is moderate mid and high 60s.
I understand that ocean temperatures lag behind air temperatures, thus spring water temperatures will be cooler and fall will be warmer than air temperatures. Nonetheless, I am baffled that mid summer ocean temperatures are warmer in Nags Head than mid fall! Do you have an explanation as to why?
3) Likewise, while in mid October it was 69 in Nags Head, at Cape Hatteras it was 80 degrees! Again, is there any reason why just 60 miles south, the October water temperature would be 10 degrees warmer and moreso, why it would be some 20 degrees warmer than the July temperature at Nags Head?
4) My last question relates to surf. I noticed most of the summer, all of July and pretty much all of August save Irene, the Outer Banks was getting weak 1-3 feet daily surfs.
However, in the fall, even with dead tropics...the surf is superior. You are likely to get a couple or more days a week with surfs above 5 feet.
Is there any reason why, in the middle of summer when it is peak beach time, the surf is dead, but even hurricane free, you get much better surf in the fall?
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Question About Water Temps
