Is the water at the beach cold?

It depends on where you are. On the pacific coast of the US the ocean water is cold because it flows south from the gulf of Alaska. On the east coast the currents bring water from the south and it is comfortably warm from Florida to Maryland in the summer.



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The difference is about three to four degrees, not a big difference, meteorologist Kate Guillet of the National Weather Service in Jacksonville said Wednesday. With sea breezes along the coast, it's cooler at the beach, she said.

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The heat that the ocean absorbs is mixed with the lower water quickly. That mixing spreads the heat around. At night, while the land cools off quickly, the water at the surface is kept warmer because the water is mixed around with the warmer water underneath.

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In the open ocean and along the shoreline, wind mixes the water around and brings water from the bottom of the ocean, which is cold and nutrient-rich, to the surface of the ocean.

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It's more of a question of preference. A little cooler than your body temperature (98.6° Fahrenheit) should not be too cold so that you don't get chilled. 70° to 78° Fahrenheit is the range where most folks feel comfortable swimming.

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