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Swimmers in Ocean City might be experiencing record water temperatures at the Jersey Shore.
Thursday’s water temperatures during the afternoon.
The water sensor at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City was taken down by the National Ocean Service Friday for inspection after record an all-time high water temperature of 84.7 degrees.
This is due to a possible faulty sensor.
At this time the 84.7 degree all time record is considered preliminary said Dean Iovino, Lead Meteorologist for The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey.
Atlantic City reported a water temperature of 84.7 degrees on Thursday, Aug. 25 the highest reading in the more than 100 years of record keeping, and the latest one in a week of records that has New Jersey's waters feeling more like Florida and parts south.
It's all been part of a week that brought new records to Atlantic City. Tuesday, Wednesday and earlier on Thursday all saw the thermometer climb to 83.8 degrees, which broke the longer standing previous record on Aug. 10, 2016 according to Dean Iovino, Lead Meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Mount Holly, which covers South Jersey. Then, the water temperature climbed to 83.3 degrees.
84.2 degrees - August 25, 2022 (2:42 p.m.)
Records are from Jim Eberwine, Absecon Office of Emergency Management Coordinator and the National Weather Service.
Water temperatures have been recorded in Atlantic City since 1911.
The 84.7 degree mark was set at 6 p.m. at the water temperature gauge at the Steel Pier, located about 350 feet off the sand. The average water temperature is 72 degrees in late August.
The observed water temperature at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City for Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 23-24. The water temperature hit 83.8 degrees multiple times Tuesday and Wednesday, the new all time record for the city.
"Good thing the Hurricane season isn’t kicking right now along the East Coast," said Scott Mazzella, who lives in Matawan during the year but spends the summer in Long Beach Island and also co-wrote the second edition of Greatest Storms of the Jersey Shore.
Hurricanes need a water temperature around or above 80 degrees to maintain and increase strength.
The observed water temperature at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City for Thursday, August 25. The water temperature hit 84.2 degrees breaking the previous record set just Wednesday and Tuesday.
The 84.7 degree mark is similar to the average temperature in Fernandina Beach, Florida. As of 3:25 p.m. Thursday it was warmer than temperatures in Wilmington, North Carolina, which was 82.9.
The waters stand in stark contrast with just two weeks ago. During “upwelling” events in late July and earlier this month, the toe-chilling waters dipped into the mid-50s — 55.8 on Aug. 10.
The wild swings in temperature are due largely to the wind direction, the same ones that made the water feel bitterly cold, according Paul Fitzsimmons, a lead meteorologist at the Mount Holly office.
Persistent southern winds in July and August created hot conditions on land, but chilled the ocean temperatures.
Working in tandem with the spin of the Earth, the Coriolis force, the winds drove the warm layers near the surface offshore, allowing the colder water below to replace them, said Michael Crowley, with the Rutgers University Center for Ocean Observing Leadership.
Winds Tuesday and Wednesday were more northwesterly, which has a warming "downwelling" effect.
Due to the Coriolis force, the waters moved at a 90 degree angle to the right of the wind direction, to the southwest. That essentially kept the water in one area.
Similar to the bay, the sun heats up the more stagnant water effectively, which drives the warmer temperatures.
It wasn't just Atlantic City with warm water either in New Jersey. Cape May sat at 79.9 degrees Thursday afternoon, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Margate was 76 degrees. Due to differences in geography and sea floor, water temperatures can vary by a number of degrees over a short difference.
While no one event is directly caused by it, a climate changing world loads the dice toward more tropical feeling waters in the future. Global ocean water temperatures have increased just under 2 degrees between the time of the first Atlantic City observation in 1911 until 2020, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Global sea surface temperatures since reliable records were kept in 1880, through 2020.
The Philadelphia Inquirer contributed to this report.
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It was record warm on the water Thursday and we'll keep the hot times going Friday. However, this time it will be on land with another inland heat wave likely with highs in the 90s Friday. A few storms will be around, too.
A cold front will linger around South Jersey for the weekend. While it won't be cooler, it will trigger a few showers and storms each of the weekend days, primarily away from the coast.
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Swimmers in Ocean City might be experiencing record water temperatures at the Jersey Shore.
The observed water temperature at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City for Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 23-24. The water temperature hit 83.8 degrees multiple times Tuesday and Wednesday, the new all time record for the city.
Thursday’s water temperatures during the afternoon.
The observed water temperature at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City for Thursday, August 25. The water temperature hit 84.2 degrees breaking the previous record set just Wednesday and Tuesday.
Global sea surface temperatures since reliable records were kept in 1880, through 2020.
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