I was snorkelling today off the south coast of Devon, I thought the water
was cloudy at first because I couldn't see the bottom in about 3.0 metres of
water, but when I dived down I went through a sharp 'thermocline' at about
1.5 metres depth, it was this that was causing the 'cloudiness', i.e., the
water was not mixing and the sharp temperature difference was resulting in
refraction giving the appearance that there was a murky layer when in fact,
the water was crystal clear.

I have not experienced this since diving in the Med and shows how calm the
conditions were. If at Weymouth the temperatures at 4.5 m depth were 19C, I
wonder what the temperatures are at less than 1.0 m?

Whatever the answer, the water near the surface today was amazingly warm and
something I have not experienced in this country before.
________________
Nick G
Exe Valley, Devon
50 m amsl

"Tom Allen" wrote in message
...

"Nick G" wrote in message
...
Swimming in the sea here on the south coast of Devon yesterday under
endless blue sky and hot sun, it seems that the sea has warmed
considerably over the last week or so and the pool of cooler water which
was hogging the coastline from Dartmouth to the Isle of Wight has
vanished being replaced by sea temps at least a couple of degrees warmer.


The local paper reported last week that the sea temp of 19 C at 4.5m at
Weymouth measured by DEFRA was the highest in their 20 year record,
beating the previous highest 18.3 C of last August.

Regards,
Tom