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.

Regarding that pool of cooler water (~16C), is that normal or just
symptomatic of the summer that we have had so far, i.e., does it occur every
year; anyone cast light on the matter?

Indeed, the sea seems warmer now than anything I have experienced since
swimming in the Aegean in August a couple of years back.
_______________
Nick G
Exe Valley, Devon
50 m amsl

"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

Nick,

That pool of cool water seems to appear most years. It has certainly
occurred for the last 3.

It seems strange that the water off Land's End should be warmer than off SE
Devon in summer, but it is usually the case.

I can only assume that must be related to upwelling due to tidal currents,
it doesn't seem to be particularly wind related.

Graham
--
Penzance Weather www.easterling.freeserve.co.uk/weather.html
Holiday Cottage www.easterling.freeserve.co.uk

"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.

Regarding that pool of cooler water (~16C), is that normal or just
symptomatic of the summer that we have had so far, i.e., does it occur
every year; anyone cast light on the matter?

Indeed, the sea seems warmer now than anything I have experienced since
swimming in the Aegean in August a couple of years back.
_______________
Nick G
Exe Valley, Devon
50 m amsl

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